To Be born With the Ability
by UchihaKyoko
Summary: This is the story of the two strongest Uchiha children to ever live. Meet Haruno Nao and Haruno Kimiko... and the dangers that befall upon them.
1. Pregnant?

Disclaimer- I don't own Naruto.

"You… you've gotta be kidding me!" Sakura yelled at the doctor.

Tsunade shook her head. "Afraid not, Sakura. You're…"

**(New setting……)**

"**PREGNANT?!" **

Sakura nodded her head, looking at the floor. "I… I'm three months along."

Tenten and Ino hugged their comrade. Naruto pulled his friend away from the girls. He mouthed "I'm gonna take this now, 'kay?" They nodded and walked away together.

"Sakura." Naruto whispered. Tears slid down Sakura's face when she looked up at him. That smile was plastered onto his face. It was caring, kind, and loving. Sakura saw everything Naruto was to her.

Her brother.

Her friend.

Her comrade.

Her teammate.

Her Hokage.

"This is going to be your baby. Your creation. This is your time to show strength… show everyone that this is you." Naruto looked up at the sky. "Hard times may come. But I'm sure… when your look at that child…it will be everything to you. Just like Izumi is for me."

Sakura smiled. "Izumi… what a wonderful girl she is."

"She's two months old. I mean Hinata hasn't even heard your news because she's at home with her." Naruto commented.

It hit Sakura again. The news… her news. "My news. My… my child."

"It will be beautiful. If it is anything like you, it will be amazing. Okay?" Naruto consoled her, but she still shook her head.

"I can't do this… can i…? I… I didn't have parents! How the hell do I raise my own baby? How do I raise another human being?" **(A/N: Let's just say Sakura's parents dies when she was very young, 'kay?)**

"Neither did I, Sakura. I was terrified when Hina said she was pregnant, but I swear to you… it will be perfect. It will be perfect… maybe not to everyone else… but to me… to you… and to _**Sasuke**_… it will be perfect." Naruto looked at her, but Sakura's gaze had shifted to a pebble on the ground that was suddenly a lot better place to look than Naruto's eyes.

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura whispered. She thought about the last time they'd talked. It had only been that morning.

"_Hey!"_

"_Yo." He muttered._

_Sakura smiled at the boy. "How was the mission?"_

_Sasuke shrugged. "It was alright. It was kinda boring."_

_The pink-haired girl looked into his deep eyes and told him the same thing she told him every single day. "I love you."_

_Sasuke smirked. "I know."_

She noted that was the only answer she ever got. Now that she was pregnant… with _his_ child… what would he do?

"I wonder… will he… take this seriously?" she looked up at her friend.

Naruto smiled. "I'm sure he will! He didn't come back to Konoha willingly for nothing, right? Itachi's dead, so his next goal is family!"

Sakura smiled back at him now. She was getting excited about her baby now. If she had Sasuke by her side, there was no doubt she could raise this child!

"Yeah… maybe this baby is a good thing!" Sakura smiled even wider.

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, there's something else I should tell you… I actually found out immediately after your appointment with Tsunade-baa-chan… there's on TINY little detail she left out… you're having-"

**(New setting…)**

"**TWINS?!" **

Sakura nodded at the boy.

Sasuke's mouth was agape. There was no way this girl was pregnant. Not with twins. Not with _his _kids! This wasn't good… no. Not al all…

"No. This isn't true."

Sakura looked truly taken aback. "Wh… what did you say?'

"I said this isn't true! Those.. those THINGS aren't mine! Never! No…! They're probably some random guy's!" Sasuke screamed. "Don't pin them on me you… you… _**whore!**_"

Sakura watched as Sasuke ran away from her. She collapsed, right there, in front of everyone. She shook, and refused to stand. He'd refused her. He'd run away again. He'd called her a _**whore**_. It wasn't fair. This wasn't happening… not to her.

_No…!_

Tenten's voice came into her ears. "Don't just stand there! Get her to Tsunade! Get her to Naruto! Get her to _someone!"_

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura whispered. The last thing she could remember was being lifted by someone who felt as though they were running as fast as they could.

A light voice tickled the girl's ears. "Hang in there Sakura, we're almost there!"

"K-Kiba…?"

_And that, my friends, is how my story began. That… that is how I, Haruno Sakura, began to fight through the toughest mission of my entire life._

**A/N: **

**GOODNESS! This one just came to me in the dead of night… so I wrote it and figured, what the heck! I'll put it up! Haha. This is NOT a KibaXSakura story. Kiba just has an important role in Sakura's life later. **

**In the next chapter, to be very clear, the children are born. They are around eight by then!**

**Anywayyys… REVIEW!! This is the first chapter story where they're in Konoha for me, so don't be too mean!! Haha. Review and tell me what you think!**

**UchihaKyoko**


	2. Team 8's Sensei Is

Disclaimer- I don't own!

**Okay, sorry, but I changed my mind. They're going to be about ten and graduating the Academy.**

Sakura looked the two over.

"Mom…?" the boy looked at her. "You okay?"

She laughed. "I'm more than okay! My babies are going to graduate Ninja Academy!"

The girl pursed her lips. "Mom, we're not _babies_. We're full-fledged ninja today!"

"Kimiko…Nao… I'm of very proud of you." Sakura whispered.

Kimiko nodded her head. Her hair was a beautiful pink, with an ever-so light tint of black that wouldn't have been noticeable if it hadn't been for the black streak running down the right side of her face. She had the most beautiful emerald green that ever had been shown to the earth.

Nao seemed to be the exact opposite of his sister when it came to the color of his features. His hair was spiky in the back and straight in the front. It was a deep raven with a very light tint of pink that, again, wouldn't have been noticeable is it hadn't been for the sharp pink streak running down the left side of his face. His eyes were a strikingly familiar onyx.

There was no doubt that these were Sasuke's children, and everyone knew it. Everyone knew it, except Kimiko and Nao who'd only known Sasuke because of his other child, Katashi. Katashi had been born only three months after Kimiko and Nao to none other than Karin. Kimiko had always gotten along with Katashi, but Nao always seemed a little sour when he was around.

Kimiko and Nao smiled at their mother. Both of them thought it was extraordinary how the women had raised them all on her own.

"Thank you, Mom." They said, simultaneously.

She kissed the top of their heads. "Go on!" she chirped. "You can't be late!"

The two grinned, waved, and ran out the door. Sakura put her fingers to her lips and smiled. "What wonderful blessings they are."

Kimiko and Nao raced through the town.

"You're so not going to beat me this time, Kimi!" Nao called to his sister.

Kimiko laughed. "We'll see about that!"

They sped up, only to bump into one Inzuka Kiba with Akamaru.

"Eh…? Kimiko? Nao?" he looked at them. Akamaru barked gleefully.

"Onii-san!" Kimi breathed. "I'm sorry!"

Kiba laughed. "It's no problem."

"_Her_ bad Kiba-nii." Nao pointed to his sister.

Kimiko punched her brother's arm playfully. "Nao!"

The three laughed. Kiba stood back and looked them. Nao was the spitting image of Sasuke, except his hair. Kimiko looked just like her mother, except for her hair.

Kimiko was wearing a white top that had sleeves that cut of at the top of her shoulder. The collar was high, stopping halfway up her neck. A black zipper ran halfway down the top before waking an abrupt turn to the left, stopping at the side of her torso. She wore the normal pants that a genin would.

Nao's outfit was quite simple. It wasn't on purpose, but he wore exactly the same thing Sasuke had in his genin years, minus the Uchiha symbol on the back. Instead, there was the Konoha leaf.

"O… Onii-san?" Kimiko raised her eyebrows.

Kiba shook himself. "Get a move on you two!" he smiled warmly. "You're full-fledged ninja today, are you not?"

"We are!" Nao exclaimed. "Shit Kimi! Let's go! We're gonna be late if we don't hurry!"

The two took off, but not before hearing Kiba call, "Good luck! And you watch that mouth, Nao!" and a soft chuckle and a loud, happy bark from the white dog.

**(In the academy…)**

"Haruno Kimiko!" Iruka called. "Haruno Nao!"** (A/N: Please don't give me grief on this, because I don't know their whole graduating process. I'm just going to have them get the headbands AND teams today, even though I'm sure that's not how it goes.)**

It seemed fit that the twins received their forehead protectors together. They bowed to their sensei, and gripped the headbands. Nao tied his around his forehead quickly, with a serious, but happy smirk on his face. Kimiko put hers at the top of her head, as her mother had when she was younger, and still did.

As they sat, the watched at one by one, their friends were called.

"Nara Shin!" Iruka called.

The twins smiled at their lazy blonde friend was called up. He had his hands in his pockets but looked proud. Kimiko missed the boy's blush when she smiled at him, but Nao sure didn't.

"Uchiha Katashi!" The raven-haired boy walked up, receiving a glare from Nao, but a smile from Kimiko, who got plenty of glares herself when Katashi smirked back at her.

"Uzumaki Izumi!" Nao noted to himself how beautiful the girl was. Her long bright blonde hair and pale eyes were very distinct, and strikingly stunning to him. She walked to Iruka with the grace of a Hyuuga, but the uplifting aura of her father.

"Hyuuga Megumi!" The girl wore her hair in two buns on the top of her head, which always made Kimiko smile, because it reminded her of Tenten, who was one of her most trusted adults.

"Nana!" The pale girl walked up to Iruka with a smile on her face. Her jet-black hair hung just past her shoulders and swayed as she walked. Iruka stared at her, looking at her face… and seeing a tiny female-form of her father.

"Akimichi Hitoshi!" Iruka called in the direction of the chubby boy. He wasn't nearly as "big-boned" as his father. In fact, in comparison, he was quite skinny. He took the headband with great gratitude and earned a wave from Nao.

"Aburame Ume!" The bug-girl walked calmly, or… darkly… and took the headband with nothing more than a nod. **(A/n: This was just a way to introduce the children of the characters. Chouji and Shino got married within their clan. The child who had no surname belongs to Sai.)**

Iruka looked at all the children who had just become ninja. He had a look on his face that said "I've been doing this WAY too long."

"There are many things I can say to this group…" he said to them. "From here on out, you belong to this village. But all the same… this village belongs to you. It is your family. Protect it with care… and when times are rough… we may fall. It is up to you to pull us back up. Don't worry about how you are now, because with hard work, things change. Take Rock Lee for an example." Lee's name received cheers from several students who knew him well, including Kimiko and Nao. "He was hopeless in the academy. Look at him now… he's got the bet taijutsu I've ever seen. Another example… hmm… oh! This is an easy one. Uzumaki Naruto… the Hokage. He was the bottom student at the academy… but he strived… he never gave up… and he achieved his dream."

The students called Naruto's name. Izumi got several pats on the back as she cheered along.

"You must know this as well. Your life _will_ be put on the line. Don't be afraid of death… because I'm about to announce the teams and comrades that will work with you." He finished.

Nao and Kimiko looked at each other, both holding the same worried expression.

"Nao… what if we aren't on the same team?" the green-eyes stared at her brother.

Nao put a hand on her shoulder. "Kimi, Kimi, Kimi. I'm sure everything will be okay." He said, half trying to convince himself.

She nodded. Iruka went through the fist seven teams, and the twins watched at kids they barely knew were paired with their friends.

_This means that we'll all get to be with our friends to!_ Kimiko thought gleefully.

"Team 8!" Iruka looked at his list. "Nara Shin," the boy looked up at his name. "Haruno Kimiko," Kimiko and Shin both smiled at each other, particularly happy to be together. "and Haruno Nao"

The twins looked at each other with wide smiled. Both Kimiko and Nao were glad that the three had been out together, but in the back of Nao's mind, he knew he was a little disappointed that he hadn't been put with Izumi.

"Team 9!" Iruka flipped the paper on the clipboard. "Uzumaki Izumi, Nana, and Uchiha Katashi."

Nana and Izumi smiled at each other, despite the fact that their fathers still squabbled a bit. When Katashi looked at Izumi, though, she groaned. Nao saw this small exchange and couldn't help but smile.

"Team 10!" Iruka's eyes hadn't left the clipboard. "Hyuuga Megumi, Aburame Ume, and Akimichi Hitoshi."

The three merely smiled at each other, none of them really upset or moved by the placement. **(A/N: their sensei's will be from the Konoha 12.)**

"And now for your instructors!" Iruka went through the teams by number. "Team 9… you have Hyuuga Hinata!"

"Aw! Come on! It has to be MOM?" Izumi complained. Iruka laughed at her likeness to both her mother an father.

Iruka settled again. "Okay… team 10… you have Nara Shikamaru!"

They shrugged and nodded.

"Hey!" Kimiko called out. "What about us?"

Iruka sighed mentally. "Oops… I forgot I guess."

But Iruka hadn't forgotten. "Team 8's sensei is…"

Iruka just couldn't believe that the Hokage had chosen _**him**_ of all people for this team.

"Uchiha… Sasuke."

**A/N:**

**Oh my God!! What's going to happen?! Well.. hehe… only I know! Muah ha, ha, ha! –Ahem- Sorry… Anyways! The next chapter begins training.**

**REVIEW! I didn't get many last time… If you don't review… I will be forced to drop the story! No… no not really. But I won't update for a long time! So review! **

**Thanks!**

**UchihaKyoko**


	3. Introductions

Disclaimer- No Naruto or me! I wish…

Sakura ran a brush through Kimiko's hair. "I just cannot believe Naruto place you under him!"

Kimiko looked up at her mother. "Erm… Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you have some sort of _grudge _against Sasuke-sensei?" the girl asked.

Sakura twitched. Of course she had a grudge against the man. He abandoned her and her children. There was only one time she thought he cared… it was the only day he'd come to see them… the day they were born.

"_h…hello?" a husky, nervous voice came from outside._

_Sakura looked up from the two bundles in her arms. "Sasuke?"_

_The raven-haired man walked in. He was alone, which surprised Sakura, now that he was married to Karin. She expected Karin to be there with him, making sure she didn't do anything… not that she would._

_He approached the bed, but didn't get to close. "Yeah… yeah, it's me."_

_Sakura, despite the feeling of resentment that was welling up inside of her, smiled at the Uchiha. He scratched the back of his neck in an anxious kind of way, like he didn't quite know what to say._

"_Come closer. They don't bite." She muttered. _

_Sasuke came straight up to the bed, not needing or wanting a second invitation, He bent down and looked at his children. _

_**That girl… she's so… beautiful..**__ he thought. __**And the boy looks a lot like me… well… it won't be hard for everyone who doesn't know to figure out who the father is…**_

"_They're beautiful… both of them." Sasuke said, without even thinking about it._

_Sakura nodded. "Yeah… they are."_

"_What are their names?"_

_Sakura smiled. "The girl is Kimiko. I figured it was perfect for her, for she will make such a beautiful history for herself…"_

_Sasuke waited for the boy's name. "What about him…?"_

_Sakura looked up at him. "I want you to name him."_

"_A…are you sure?" Sasuke was pretty taken aback._

_Sakura nodded. "They're your kids, too."_

_Sasuke closed his eyes. This was the name that the boy had to live with the rest of his life, and no matter how much he didn't want to admit it, he knew that he loved these kids to no end. This was the first thing he could do for the child, so it had to be perfect for him._

"_Nao." _

"_Nao?" Sakura asked him._

_Sasuke nodded. "Nao… it's perfect. He will be honest in every aspect… and he will be loyal to his village…always and forever… something his father can't say."_

"'_Something his father can't say'…?" Sakura saw the loving look in his eyes as he picked up Nao. He'd just acknowledged them as his children._

_She smiled. She no knew that he cared now, and that's all she needed._

"Hellooooo! Mom?" Kimiko waved her hand in Sakura's face. Sakura shook herself out of the daze. "Geez… you've been spacey lately, Mom."

Sakura laughed. "Yeah, I guess I have!"

In the kitchen, Kiba and Nao were talking.

"Don't you think it's weird?" Nao asked him.

Kiba was almost sweating. "Not everyone looks _completely_ different, Nao."

"But I look _just_ like him." Nao said. "Don't deny it."

Kiba sighed. "Okay, so you guys look alike… big deal."

Nao clicked his tongue in disapproval to his answer. "That's not good enough! Nobody around here ever answers my questions about him. I know there's a connection."

_I know he's my father. I just know it… but I want someone to tell me._

"Look Nao, I'm not going to say there's nothing connecting you two… but I'm not the one to tell you about it, okay?" Kiba looked at Nao seriously.

The boy nodded. "Okay... okay, Kiba-nii."

Kiba ruffed the top of Nao's head. "Good boy."

"I'm not Akamaru, Kiba-nii!" Nao scowled, then laughed.

"Nao!" Kimiko's voice came from the hallway.

Nao walked into the hallway to meet her. "Yeah?"

"You coming or not? We're going to meet Sasuke-sensei!" she told him.

Nao nodded. "Yeah…"

_Uchiha Sasuke… my sensei… and my father…_

"Good luck you two! Don't let him scrape you up too bad!" Sakura said.

The twins nodded, waved, and ran out the door.

"Are they going to be okay with him, Kiba?" Sakura looked worried.

Kiba smiled and pulled the woman into a hug, inhaling her scent. "Everything with be just fine, Sakura. I promise."

Sakura hugged him back and nodded. "If you say so."

**AT THE TRAINING GROUND…**

"Shin-kun!" Kimiko called to the boy, who was already there.

Shin smirked. "Hey Kimiko, hey Nao."

"Yo." Nao raised one arm in a greeting.

They sat and talked a while.

"He's a little late…" Kimiko commented, with nods of agreement from Nao and Shin.

No sooner had she said that, Sasuke walked up the path. He looked at Nao and Kimiko. Half the Uchiha cursed Naruto for making him the sensei of his children, but the other half thanked the blonde idiot. He was grateful to be with the children that he hardly ever saw… but loved with his whole heart. It's not like Sasuke ignored Katashi, but he didn't like that he was Karin's child as well.

"Yo," Sasuke raised one arm in greeting… just like Nao.

Of course, all three of them noticed. Nao was making a big deal of it to himself, Kimiko was studying him, then her brother, and Shin was thinking about when his mother, Ino, had told him that Sasuke was the twin's father.

"Alright," Sasuke began, after sitting on the ground with the three, "we should start by introducing ourselves. I want to hear your names, likes, dislikes, and your dream."

Sasuke looked at Shin, signaling for him to start. "I'm Nara Shin. I like looking at the clouds with my dad and bugging the hell out of my mom. I don't like working at my mom's flower shop, or listening to people rant. My dream is that I can reach Chuunin level by 13, like my dad."

Sasuke nodded, then looked at his daughter, letting his gaze linger. "I'm Haruno Kimiko,"

_Uchiha… you're __**Uchiha**__ Kimiko._ Sasuke thought.

"I like training and cooking. I really don't like liars… and I don't like anyone who puts my friends in danger. My dream is that I can become a medicnin, like my mom and Tsunade-sama!" a light shone in her eyes.

_You will be._ The Uchiha thought with pride.

"I'm Haruno Nao," the boy began, and Sasuke's eyes landed onto him, the same thought from before echoing in his head.

_Uchiha Nao… __**Uchiha Nao.**_

"I like training, too, and finding things out for myself. I don't like natto… or any really sweet things…"

_God, can this kid be anymore like me?!_

"As for my dream…I think I might want to try to succeed Naruto-Nii-san and become Hokage." He said.

_That's some dream Nao… but I get the feeling you can do it._

"What about you Sasuke-sensei?" Shin asked.

"Oh, right." He muttered. "Well, I'm Uchiha Sasuke. I like to train… and I like missions. I don't like sweet things or natto either… and I've already achieved my dream."

"What was your dream?" Kimiko asked him.

Sasuke pondered for a second whether or not he should actually tell the kids about it. In the end, he actually decided to. "I wanted to avenge my clan and kill my own brother. I eventually did it… and now I'm back in Konoha."

"Back…?" Nao looked at him strangely. None of the children had ever head of Sasuke's running to Orochimaru, but Sasuke wasn't exactly aware of that.

"Oh… oh it's nothing." He said. "Um… a-any questions?"

_He looks nervous… _Kimiko thought. _Oh…! What if he isn't happy with this team?_

"S..sensei!" Kimiko called out.

Sasuke looked at his daughter's worried face.

_Crap!_ _Am I already screwing this Sensei thing up?_ **(A/N: Yeah, Sasuke's a bit OOC, but he's just lightened up since his kids were born and he killed Itachi)**

"Yeah?" he tried to keep his voice calm.

Kimiko blushed a little. "Are… are you unhappy with this team? Do you wish you were with your son?"

Sasuke looked at her, a bit shocked at her question. He looked at Nao. Nao saw him out of the corner of his eyes. He almost jumped when he saw the expression on his face. It said, "I am."

"Kimiko…" Sasuke sighed, but not in a mean way in the slightest. "I'm glad to see how the team turned out. This is new for me… and you… so… really… you shouldn't worry about things like that, okay?"

Nao and Shin looked a little bewildered at his words. They'd only heard of a cold Sasuke… a grown brat who only worried about his clan and power.

Kimiko looked up at her father. "Okay, Sasuke-Sensei."

Sasuke stood, and unseen smile on his face. "Alright then. Our first exercise…" the Uchiha pulled out two bells. "-is for two of you three to get these."

**A/N:**

**Yeah, the ending to this chapter kinda sucked… but oh well! I hope you guys liked it… there will be a time skip next chapter. They should be around 13, and all of you will be filled in on important events that happened. (There's going to be a little ROMANCE!) Haha. **

**REVIEW!! PLEASE! I loved all the reviews I got last time! Really… review or I won't update! Thanks!!**

**-UchihaKyoko-**


	4. By the Bridge

Disclaimer- still don't own!

**REMEMBER, They're 13 now. **

"I… Izumi-chan!"

The blonde girl turned around. "Eh…? Oh!" a small blush crept across the her face. "N-Nao-kun!"

Nao skidded to a halt in front of her. "Come on! Are you going to come to dinner or not? Our parents are eating together, remember?"

Nao had found Izumi on the bridge that her father and Nao's parents used to meet on everyday. "Oh…oh yeah… that's right."

The teenager grabbed Izumi's hand, deepening the blush that was still present on her face. In front of her, a very happy Nao smirked.

**AT THE HOUSE…**

"Oh, Kami-sama, Onee-chan!" Kimiko exclaimed to Hinata. "This all smells so good!"

Hinata giggled in embarrassment. "Thank you, Kimiko-chan!"

"Yup! That's my Hina-chan!" Naruto grinned and put his arms around his wife. Kimiko laughed when Izumi came in because…well… her face was really... very funny.

"You guys are so embarrassing!" she yelled.

Sakura leaned on Kiba's shoulder. "She's got Hinata's beauty… and Naruto's volume."

The friends all laughed, except Naruto and Izumi, who just looked confused, which only made them laugh harder.

At dinner, Naruto said he had an announcement.

"…and it's huge." He said.

Kimiko, Nao, and Izumi looked at each other. What could be so important that made Naruto sound so… serious…?

"I FOUND ONE OF SHINO'S BUGS IN MY CLOSET TODAY! IT WAS REALLY CREEPY! I MEAN, DO YOU THINK HE'S _SPYING _ON ME OR SOMETHING?!" Naruto yelled.

The teenagers and adults stared at him for a couple seconds before…well… going off.

"DAD!!!" (Izumi)

"NARUTO!!!" (Sakura)

"BAKA!" (Kiba)

"NARUTO-KUN!!" (Hinata)

"NARUTO-NII-SAN!" (Kimiko and Nao)

Naruto was laughing so hard, he thought he might fall out of his chair, but to everyone else, it was so _not funny._ He steadied himself again. "But seriously… there is something big we need to discuss."

Kimiko, Nao, and Izumi were pulled into the conversation once more. "All three of you will be going into the Chuunin Exams. Sasuke-teme and Hina think it's the perfect time. They say that you're all ready."

The three looked at each other. "Mom…?" Izumi looked at her mother. "You think I'm ready?"

Hinata nodded at her daughter. "Completely."

"Er… Naruto-Nii-San?" Kimiko and Nao spoke up, receiving a nod from Naruto telling them to go on. Kimiko continued. "Did… Sasuke-sensei… really say we were ready?"

Naruto smiled at the girl. "He also said that you, Nao, and Shin are the brightest kids he's ever met."

Sakura looked at Naruto, shocked. Sasuke… _Sasuke_ said that about them? Sure, it was a given for Shin, because he was Shikamaru's son. But still… Nao and Kimiko? Not that they were dumb or anything, but it was surprising that he'd admit it.

"Heh." Sakura breathed and Kiba looked at her.

He smiled. "Is it really that surprising? It's true."

Sakura nodded. "It is true!"

"Well, anyways, back to the Chuunin Exams." Naruto said. "I'm going to give you a heads up. When Sakura, Sasuke-teme, and I took the exam, it was pretty damn brutal. Sasuke was bitte… seriously hurt by Orochimaru."

_Bitte..? …bitten! _Were the thoughts that ran through Nao and Kimiko's head. _But… why would it matter if he was bitten…?_

"And your mother over here, Sakura, was nearly killed. I think I was pretty okay… but it's still so very dangerous… so just be careful. You'll need to study for the written exams, and train for the ones out in the field." He said. "Are you prepared to do that?"

The three nodded. "Hai!"

Naruto smiled. "Good, then. You should begin with your instructors tomorrow."

**THAT NIGHT…**

Nao was feeling totally restless. The whole concept of the Chuunin Exams was unsettling. He ventured into Kimiko's room to see if she wanted to go on a walk with him, but she was missing from her room. There was a note on the window that said, "Nao, if you're reading this, I'm out for a walk. I didn't want to wake you, so don't worry. If you need to find me, I'll be atop the Hokage faces."

That was Nao's favorite place, considering he wanted to become Hokage himself, but he just couldn't bring himself to join his sister. Something told him he wanted to go to the bridge that he'd found Izumi on earlier.

He did just that. But when he got there he could hear light sobs that were so familiar, they wrenched at his heart.

"Izumi-chan…" he whispered, only loud enough for himself to hear.

He wanted to see what was wrong, so he concealed his chakra and walked every so quietly, so that she wouldn't hear him. As he got closer, he wondered why a Hyuuga's sharp eyes and senses couldn't tell he was there.

_Emotions must be clouding her senses…_

"Hey." He muttered.

Izumi looked up, and when she saw Nao, she quickly whipped away her tears. "Oh… N-Nao-kun… it's just you."

Nao nodded. "Yep… it's just me."

She looked down into the flowing river again. It swirled in her pale eyes, reflecting every wave and every ripple. Nao walked to her, so that he stood right next to her.

"So… you want to talk about it?" he asked gently.

She nodded. "But I don't know where to start…"

Nao shrugged. "The beginning would be nice."

The boy could hear her sobs turn into a soft giggle at his remark.

"It's a whole lot of things… the Chuunin Exams, for starters." She told him.

Nao bent his head over so that he could see her face. "Those…? It's nothing to stress over."

Izumi looked him in the face now. "But Nao-kun… are the Chuunin Exams not the reason you came out to the bridge as well? Hmm?"

Nao raised an eyebrow. "Yeah… yeah I guess, but neither of us should worry about it. We've both got great teams by our side. Nana's great, and as much as I hate to admit it, Katashi is strong, too."

Izumi nodded, making her long blonde hair sway; something Nao loved. "All I need to know is that everyone will be okay… I want to make sure that Shin is okay… and Kimiko, too. But mostly…" the blonde girl blushed. "I want to make sure that _you're _going to be okay, Nao-kun."

The raven-haired boy blushed, too. "I will be okay, as long as you are, Izumi-chan. I promise, okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Okay."

"Now… what else is it?" he asked, not forgetting that there was more than the Chuunin Exams worrying her.

"It's Megumi." She said. "They almost didn't… but… I don't know. He changed his mind. Hiashi-sama is going to put that… that _thing_ on her."

Nao's eyes widened. "The caged-bird seal? Why…?"

"She's younger than me. As much as I completely despise it, I am the heiress to the Hyuuga Clan."

"Then," Nao put a comforting hand on the girl's shoulder. "why not turn down the title? Give it to Megumi."

"And disgrace my mother?" Izumi looked hurt that he would even suggest a thing.

Nao took his hand off her shoulder. "You could disgrace your mother, or trap your cousin. Besides, Onee-chan hated the title, too. That's what Naruto-Nii-San said, anyways. She could never be ashamed of you."

"But the Clan-"

"The "Clan" is not you. You are _not_ "Hyuuga Izumi". No… never. You are _Uzumaki_ Izumi. And an Uzumaki answers to nobody but themselves." Nao told her. "If you don't want it, don't take it. "

Izumi looked like she might cry again. She flung her arms around Nao and thanked him repeatedly.

"You are just like him." She whispered in his ear.

"Who?"

Izumi pulled away and looked him in the eyes. "My father."

**A/N:**

**MMMMMM…. This was kinda a bad ending. I like Nao and Izumi together!! . There wasn't much romance in here, but there was enough for a couple 13 year olds, if you ask me anyways. **

**NEXT CHAPTER BEGINS TRAINING OR THE CHUUNIN EXAMS! You will finally get to see Shin, Kimiko, and Nao's abilities that have grown in the past 3 years next chapter. **

**REVIEW PLEASE!!! Haha, I would really appreciate it!**

**UCHIHAKYOKO**


	5. Queue the Snake

Disclaimer- I don't own any Naruto characters! I only own Kimiko, Nao, Izumi, Shin, and so on and so forth.

"I'd like to take Nao on as my apprentice, Sakura."

Sakura surveyed the man. "Repeating history are we? Does he remind you of a certain someone?"

The man nodded. "He does. He's capable of the sharingan now. He's perfectly capable of the chidori, too."

"Not yet, I assume?" the pink-haired woman asked.

"No. But this is when all jounins start looking for students. I know Shikamaru will have his son as his apprentice… and I'm guessing you'll mentor Kimiko?"

Sakura shrugged. "Half-and-half."

"I'm not following."

"I will teach her medical ninjutsu. There is someone else who has other plans for her…" she sighed.

There was silence after that. Nothing but a deathly cold silence hung in the air. Sakura surveyed her surroundings. The forest was dark, and particularly creepy. She wasn't exactly comfortable there.

"Alright. I give you the permission to teach my son." She breathed finally.

"Sakura."

She looked up at him. "Yeah?"

"It's _our_ son."

Sakura shook her head. "No. He's _our_ son when you tell him he is. He's been waiting for that for 3 bloody years."

He nodded. "Fine. When the second exam is over… I will tell him."

"That's not good enough. Kimiko… you tell her, too." She growled. "Then you tell _your_ son. Then… then you tell Katashi-chan. I think it would be fair for him to know that he has a half-brother and a half-sister." **(A/N: For anyone who doesn't know, the ending –chan can also be used for boys, usually by older adults.)**

He nodded his head again. "Okay. As long as I can train Nao." Sakura gave the man an angry look.

"Why do you want to train him, huh?! Is this some game to you?!" she yelled furiously, and he looked angry himself now.

"I'm trying to protect him!" Sakura stopped and stood, dumbfounded. "I don't really care right now if you hate me, Sakura, but I'm going to protect this boy! If training his is what it takes… if revealing to him who his father is… who_ I _am is what it takes than so be it!" he got closer to the woman. "I'm not going to stand here and do nothing while Nao could die out in those exams."

Sakura acknowledged her defeat with a curt nod. "After the second exams… you tell him… you train him… and you keep him from dying. I'm going to trust you this _one more time_. You got it…? Sasuke?"

"Yeah." The Uchiha said. "I got it."

**THE DAY OF THE SECOND EXAMS**

"Are you guys ready for this?" Kimiko's sweet, innocent voice rang out.

The boys nodded.

"Okay, you three," Sasuke grabbed their attention. "You're going for the earth and the heaven scroll. You gotta remember, though, _don't open them._"

Shin looked quizzical. "Why…?"

Sasuke sighed. "Do you all trust me?"

The three nodded, with thoughts like, _He's our sensei; of course we trust him!_

"Then just don't open the scrolls."

"Hai."

Sasuke's gaze drifted to Kimiko. Since his conversation with Sakura a few weeks ago, he couldn't get this one, single thought out of his head.

_Who's mentoring her? Who's mentoring my daughter?_

"Genins… be ready!" they heard Anko's voice.

Shin, Nao, and Kimiko looked at Sasuke.

"Go. And be ready." He said, looking at Kimiko and Nao, he added, "If you see ANYONE who uses snakes, don't get near them."

Kimiko's eyes widened, along with Nao's.

"_Well, anyways, back to the Chuunin Exams." Naruto said. "I'm going to give you a heads up. When Sakura, Sasuke-teme, and I took the exam, it was pretty damn brutal. Sasuke was bitte… seriously hurt by Orochimaru."_

_**Bitte..? …bitten!**__ Were the thoughts that ran through Nao and Kimiko's head__**. But… why would it matter if he was bitten…?**_

"Orochimaru." They said in unison.

Sasuke looked shocked. "J-just go. Make me proud guys."

They nodded and leapt off into the Forest of Death.

"DOOOOOOOBEEEEE." Sasuke growled, silently cursing his blonde friend.

**ONE DAY AFTER THE START**

"Okay, so we've got the heaven scroll… we, obviously need an earth." Shin said.

Kimiko put a finger to her lips. "We need a strategy. There are 17 teams in this exam… but there are only 30 scrolls. So already only 15 can pass. Not to mention, we never know what will happen to other scrolls…"

"So," Nao continued for her. "We should assume that only 12 will pass."

Kimiko and Shin nodded.

"We can camp here for now and set up some traps in the area, and if nothing turns up tomorrow we'll move on." Shin said.

"But we should be more fast-paced than that!" Kimiko interjected.

Shin shook his head. "If we don't conceal our chakra, we won't need to be."

Kimiko and Nao looked at each other, then at Shin. "What?"

"Think about all the idiots that will be in this exam." Shin said. "They'll be searching around for chakra, basically. If we expose ourselves they come to us."

The twins pondered this for a moment. Sure he was right… but there was some… something else…

"You're just being lazy again, aren't you?" Kimiko pointed at him accusingly.

Shin nodded with a smirk.

The night was uneventful. They took turns watching out, and only one trap was sprung. When the sound of bells (that's what they used at an alert when a trap was sprung) filled all of their ears, they rushed to the trap. As it turns out, it was only a squirrel, gathering food.

They moved to a new location the next morning.

Kimiko was surveying her surroundings. "I think we should actually search for people today."

Shin looked at her. "Fine… but I'd rather-"

"Be lazy…?" Nao finished his sentence. Shin nodded. "I swear, you have no shame."

"Just come on." Kimiko waved her hand for them to stand. "We should set up a 500-yard perimeter, split up and go from there. That way, if one of us needs help, we can just go from there."

"Okay." The boys replied, and they split up in 3 different directions.

**WITH SHIN**

Shin looked about the forest. The wind blew hard for a few moments and the trees ached and groaned. The boy shivered. It was creepy, but he could find nothing suspicious, or any sign of life at all. He came to the conclusion that his area had no enemies or targets.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!" a shriek came from behind him.

Shin eyes widened. He immediately recognized the voice.

"Oh God…" he whispered. "Kimiko!"

Shin wasted no time. He dashed off in the girl's direction.

**NAO**

The raven-haired boy searched under every bush in the clearing. He began to think the whole concept of having to search a completely empty clearing was stupid. He was right. There was an eerie feeling welling up inside him though… but it was one of those feelings he got that didn't belong to him. He was frightened, but not on his own accord.

"Kimiko…!" he spoke his sister's name, and the feelings became more and more intense. He couldn't bear it any longer… it was hard to even stand…

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!!"

He pushed aside his weaknesses, and sprinted to his sister, but he stopped cold when he saw her.

Kimiko lay in the middle of the forest, twitching and grabbing her neck. Nao ran to her.

"Kimiko… Kimiko….!" He whispered. Shin dashed into the clearing and ran to her side as well.

They watched in horror as Kimiko tried to speak. He mouth as dry, and the only noises that would come out were piercing screams. She finally mustered up enough energy to point ahead of her.

The boys slowly turned their heads.

"Hello, Nara Shin. Hello, Haruno Nao." A snake-like voice coated the clearing.

Nao's eyes widened, along with Shin's. The boy frantically checked his sister's neck, where she was grasping it so tight, her knuckles had gone white. Sure enough, there were two fang marks there.

"Bitten… she's been bitten." He examines her more as she squeezed Shin's hand. "What the bloody hell-"

"It's called the heaven curse mark, Nao-kun." Orochimaru seethed as he cackled.

Nao turned to him and stood. "Orochimaru."

"Very good. You're father tell you about me?" when Nao looked surprised, Orochimaru smiled. "Oh, yes. Maybe you haven't heard. I trained your father, Nao-kun."

"Shut up." Nao whispered.

Orochimaru nodded. "yes… yes, that's right. If he hadn't escaped, I'd have that sharingan."

"Shut up." Nao said, a little louder, pulling out a kunai.

"He was the best student I ever had…" Orochimaru's eyes gleamed as he looked at Nao.

"_Shut up!"_ Nao screamed.

Then everything slowed. All the things Nao was seeing slowed down. He looked at Orochimaru and gasped.

"I…can SEE chakra…?"

"GAHHHH!" Kimiko screamed the loudest she had yet.

Nao immediately spun to her. "Kimiko!"

"Nao… your… your eyes…" Shin whispered. He looked down at Kimiko and gasped. "Kimiko's got them, too!"

Orochimaru smirked. "That, my young friends, is the sharingan."

**A/N:**

**AH! This ending was worse than usual! MMMM… oh well. Nothing I can do now… but ANYWAYS! Next chapter is still bouncing a bit in my head, but they won't fight Orochimaru a lot. Maybe… not sure. **

**REVIEW! PLEASE, PLEASE, REVIEW! 9Not that I'm begging or anything… haha!) Well, I only got like, 2 reviews last time, and I LOVE hearing our thoughts! So please send them in!**

**UchihaKyoko**


	6. Hyuuga Megumi and the Curse Mark

Disclaimer- Masashi-sensei-Naruto.

Me- Kimiko, Shin, Nao, Izumi, Katashi and so on and so forth.

"Sh… sharingan?" Nao asked.

"Nao!" Kimiko screamed her brother's name. "H…help me!"

Shin looked down at the girl. "Kimiko…! Nao!" Nao turned around, the red staining his eyes. "We don't have time for this! At this rate…. At this rate…!"

"At this rate…?" Nao whispered fearfully.

Surprisingly enough, tears welled up in the boy's eyes. He looked down and Kimiko again. He pulled his head down to her chest.

"Shin! Answer me!"

The boy shook himself. He kept listening to the sounds her organs were making. _Th-thump. Th-thump. Th-…thump. Th-……thump._

"Nao!" Shin's head shot up. "Help! She… she's dying!"

Nao's eyes shot open, larger than ever.

"Hm… she can't handle it?" Orochimaru said. "Surprising. Her father could… but I guess worthless children really are just worthless, aren't they…? Nao-kun…?"

Nao turned to the man. Whatever was going on in his eyes was good. He didn't know how it happened, an he didn't know why. He didn't even care why. The only thing in the world that mattered to him right then and there was the fact that his sister, his twin, was dying. In a split second, his mind contemplated what it would be like for her to be gone. He couldn't feel anything. The boy almost collapsed from the feeling of loss and remorse. She wasn't even dead… and he could feel his body and soul ripping apart from each other. She was his family… and having her with him was the glue that kept everything together.

"Undo it." Nao told the man. Orochimaru cocked his head to the side in slight confusion. "Whatever you did to her! Undo it right now! I will do _anything_ you want me to. Just… save her! Save Kimiko! _Save my sister!_"

"Nao." Kimiko's voice came to him.

He whipped around immediately. She was sitting up.

"Stop this nonsense!" She cried through her tears. "I'm okay!"

Orochimaru cackled. "Good. She's alive. Maybe she's not so worthless?"

The man talked big, but had surprised thoughts running through his head.

_There's no way the effects wore off this fast. That's totally impossible! What __**are**__ these children?! But… I guess a better question would be… who was their mother? Judging by the pink streak in that boy's hair… and the pink in the girl's… it was probably that girl Tsunade trained that kept coming after Sasuke-kun._

"I wonder…" his snake voice rang out once more. "…how would you fair, Nao-kun?"

Orochimaru's neck stretched to an enormous size. Nao could only stand in shock, for he'd never seen someone so scary and… bizarre. He sped faster and faster, as Kimiko and Shin screamed, begging for him to move.

But he didn't.

And Orochimaru's head collided into his neck.

The fangs de-tached themselves from Nao's neck. A mark, exactly like the one on Kimiko, appeared, fading in. Pain shot up the raven-haired boy's neck, and down his entire body. Instinctively, Nao slammed his hand onto the back of his neck, collapsing.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhh!" he screamed, louder and louder his voice rang through the clearing.

"I hope you enjoyed my parting gifts…" the snake-man said, sinking into the ground, but only after putting something on the ground.

Shin ran to Nao, and although the pain was not nearly as intense, Kimiko couldn't bring herself up off the ground.

"Nao?" Shin shook him, and he screamed again. "Nao! Come on!"

Nao's consciousness was beginning to fail him. Everything was going dark until…

"Nao-kun!"

Nao's eyes flew open. "Izumi…chan…?"

He felt warm, smooth hands grip the back of his neck. His body was numbing, but someone was turning him over a little. The same hands rubbed the spot where Orochimaru's fangs had been.

"Katashi!"

Footsteps echoed Nao's ears. "Yeah?"

"Do you recognize this?" Izumi's silky voice soothed Nao, little by little.

Katashi gasped. "Yeah! It's… it's on my dad's shoulder! Why does he have it?"

Izumi turned Nao over again. "Dammit, Orochimaru."

"Izumi-chan… Izumi-chan…" he said her name again…and again…and again.

Shin's voice came once more as he carried Kimiko over, putting her by her brother. She'd lost consciousness. "What the hell is this thing, Izumi?!"

"It's a curse mark." She said solemnly, stroking Nao's shoulder. "Orochimaru uses them to find his…" she shuddered. "his _containers._ In other words… he marks the people he wants to use. My dad said the Sasuke-sensei has one… he also said that Orochimaru never dies because of these. He kills the people that he's given these marks to… then he transfers his soul into their body. As it turns out… he's been trying to get an Uchiha… the _sharingan_ for years. You know, since… Uchiha Itachi."

_An Uchiha?! That's me! Sharingan… he said I have that…_ Nao thought._ Come to think of it…I'm still seeing with it._

"An Uchiha?!" Katashi cried out. "They aren't Uchiha! I am! _I'm_ Sasuke's son!"

Izumi turned to him, angry. "His _only_ son, eh?! Look at Nao-kun! _HE'S FREAKIN JUST LIKE SASUKE-SENSEI!_ Maybe I should remind you, that these two "non-official" Uchihas have awakened their sharingan, when you have not! Jeez, how dense can you be? And you don't need to be _jealous_ of this!! There's a reason Orochimaru chose them. **Because they're stronger than you.**"

Katashi backed away. Sure, he had _two_ stubborn parents, so he was very stubborn too, but he knew when he was defeated.

"Nao-kun…"

Nao smiled weakly. "I'm okay now, Izumi-chan. Really, I am." He sat up.

"We're going to the tower." She said. "Come with us. It's not safe for any of us."

Kimiko was awake now, with Shin holding onto, with no intention of letting go. "But we don't have the other scroll, Izumi."

"Wanna bet?" the blonde smirked, pointing to the place that Orochimaru had disappeared at. Sure enough, there was the earth scroll they needed to pass the exams.

"Whoa." Was the only word that seemed to be able to pass through team 8's lips.

Nana, who'd hardly been noticed, walked over and grabbed the scroll, wordlessly handing it to Nao. He nodded and thanked her just before he stood. Kimiko followed his example and the sharingan faded. The twins were shaky, but the Uchiha blood that burned inside them would not allow them to hold everyone up.

Kimiko smirked, determined. "Let's go."

The six nodded, leaping off into the dark stretch of forest before them.

"Nao." Shin slowed down to be at the boy's level.

Nao turned his head ever so slightly, to meet Shin's eyes. "Hn?"

"Listen to that."

Nao blocked everything else going on completely out of his mind. The pain that still tore at his neck, the memory of Izumi's gentle hands, and Orochimaru, were all gone. All he could do was focus the chakra into his ears to hear what Shin did.

"_reeeeeeeeel"……. _

_The sound of wire…?_

"_shwup"……._

_Kunai….kunai!_

"Kuso!" Nao yelled as he jumped out of the way.

Kimiko heard her brother's exclamation, and back-flipped, extending her foot at the last minute to hit the tip of the weapon, sending it flying in the direction of the attacker.

"Nice aim, Kimiko!" Shin called, gaining a smile from the girl. It was no surprise, though, because she and Nao had tied for their year's no.1 rookie.

A very familiar scream came from where the kunai came from.

"Aw, crap!" Kimiko yelled. "_Tell_ me I hit Megumi!"

The Hyuuga walked out of the bushes, with not a scratch on her. "No. I'm fine, but thanks for springing the trap!" she yelled sarcastically. She saw what direction they were heading in and said, "Fight me."

"What?" her cousin (Izumi) yelled. "No way!"

Megumi turned to Izumi. "Why? We'll fight each other anyways in the third part."

Izumi opened her mouth to speak, but Kimiko cut her off. "I'll fight you, Megumi."

But something was wrong. An aura radiated off of her body that most definitely was not hers. It screamed for blood, and wouldn't settle for less. Her murderous intent was filling the area to no extent. They all shuddered, except for her and Nao. Nao had begun to radiate this same aura, and when Izumi looked at him, his eyes stained red. Kimiko's had too, and they smirked.

"Well…? She asked.

This was no situation to fight... at least, not with them like _that_…but everyone knew things would only get worse if she backed down. Megumi decided to agree, throw a couple punches, and run.

"Fine." Megumi said.

Kimiko narrowed her eyes and smirked again. "Good. Then… let's go!"

The girl charged with everything she had. Megumi backed up a little, trying to find an escape route, but there was no avail. If Kimiko hit her, Megumi was going to die!

Kimiko reached her and threw a punch, but Megumi dodged just in time. Her fist hit a tree, an it completely shattered, throwing splinters everywhere. Shin's eyes widened. He'd never seen her use that kind of strength!

That wasn't all, though, No, it was far from all. Black marks swallowed her body, and her personality. She was no longer herself.

"What… what _is _she?!" Katashi yelled.

"It's the curse mark!" Izumi told them. "We have to stop her! If not... Megumi…!"

Nao turned to them. "If you stop her… I'll kill you." Black marks, just like Kimiko's had covered his entire body.

"Nao-kun…" Izumi whispered.

Nana was standing still. She could only ponder what was going on. She knew who could stop who, but it was dangerous even thinking of asking them, but if she didn't, Megumi, one of her true friends, would die. "Shin… Izumi."

They turned to her, surprised at the rare occurrence of her voice at a time like this. Megumi screamed again, and Nana shivered. "You guys can stop them. You _have_ to stop them."

The two nodded, not really sure to what else they could do.

While all that was going on, Kimiko and Megumi continued to fight, although, no one could really call it a fight. If it needed a name, it was that Megumi was getting the crap beaten out of her.

And no one could do anything about it.

Kimiko slammed her knew into the girl's stomach, only to rush to the other side, and punch her in the back, throwing her across the clearing.

Izumi had to get Shin to Kimiko, and she had to help Nao out of whatever trance he was in. She dashed to him, digging her fingertips into his back. She pushed her face into his chest before looking up at him and pleading, "Nao-kun! Please…. Stop! Stop it! Kimiko's _hurting_ Megumi! Remember the bridge…? She's my family Nao-kun. Don't let Kimiko keep hurting her… I'm begging you Nao-kun."

The black marks on Nao's skin receded into the curse mark, and he looked down at the girl. "Izumi…chan. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

She hugged him again, and this time, he hugged her back. "It's okay. It's okay, Nao-kun."

The looked over at Kimiko again, who was looming over Megumi, who was bleeding severely. Just as Kimiko was about to take a fatal blow, Nao and Izumi screamed her name. But the weren't the only ones.

"Kimiko!" a familiar, caring voice tickled her ears, and she felt someone grab her hand.

She turned to face Shin, who was still grabbing her hand. "You have to stop, Kimiko. You're hurting her."

Her eyes faded, and her marks receded, just like Nao. She turned to look at Megumi. "Megumi… Megumi!" she yelled. "Oh my God… Megumi!"

The girl lay there. She wasn't even moving… no twitching… no _anything_. Her breathing was shallow and weak, threatening to stop at any second.

Izumi rushed to her cousin, as everyone else just stood there, tears falling from Kimiko's eyes as she tried to wrestle from Shin, who was telling her it would be okay. Izumi put her ear to Megumi's chest.

"She's going to live, but if we don't get her somewhere soon, she'll be in a coma." Izumi said solemnly.

Kimiko looked pleadingly at Shin, who finally let her go. She ran and picked up Megumi.

"We have to get her to the tower. Now." She said.

Katashi looked confused. "But that will make her team fail the exam!"

Nao shrugged. "If she goes into a coma, it won't matter. They'll fail anyways."

Katashi nodded, feeling a little resentment to his half-brother.

Kimiko wasted no time. She leapt into the trees, followed by everyone else. She looked down at Megumi. Her eyes were closed, and blood leaked from the corner of her mouth. There was no doubt she had broken ribs, and the bone was literally erecting from her leg. There was a chunk of shin missing from her shoulder, too.

_I can't believe I did that. That's my fault. It's all my fault._

The 7 reached the tower without any more difficulty. Kimiko called out for an instructor.

"Help!" she yelled. "Help us!"

Sure enough, and instructor came. "What… what the hell happened to her?!"

"She tripped a trap and-" Izumi began, defending Kimiko.

Kimiko cut her off though. "It was me." She said.

The man looked shocked, but brushed it off, since worse had happened in the exams. He figured they'd deal with it later. He took the Hyuuga, and told them to finish the exam.

The two teams went their separate ways and finished the exams. The procedure after that was normal. Someone appeared and explained everything to them, but what everyone didn't know, was that history had repeated itself… twice.

**A WEEK LATER**

"Have you told them?" Sakura asked.

"I will today at training."

"You'd better. Something's been off with them… ever since the second exam… ever since Megumi's attack… I'm afraid Orochimaru appeared, Sasuke."

"What?!" the man exclaimed. "Impossible!"

Sakura shook her head. "No. It's not, and you know it. He could be after them. All Nao does is train, and when he comes home, he's covered in his own blood. And Kimiko… she's always alone. I've seen her go with Nao to train, but then she doesn't come back until after 4 in the morning. And to make matters worse…"

"What is it Sakura?"

"Nao won't let me take his shirt off." She said.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"Think what his shirt covers. Then, think about where your curse mark is." She said.

"NO. No! That's not true. I won't believe that's true. They haven't gotten it. _Orochimaru is not after them._"

Sakura nodded. "Yes… he is. I'm sure Kimiko has one, too. How else could she bring herself to nearly kill Megumi without a decent reason?"

Sasuke shook his head. "I'm not wasting any time telling them. Katashi already knows… I told him when he came home the next day. He didn't seem shocked though…"

"Just tell them. Tell them before I murder you!" Sakura growled.

Sasuke sighed, swallowing his feelings and pride. "Fine, but you realize that I'm only speaking with you because of them, right?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way, Sasuke." Sakura said, and began to walk away.

Sasuke realized something. "Wait." Sakura turned around. "Who's training Kimiko?"

Sakura smirked. "Who else?"

"Kakashi."

**A/N:**

**WOW! This one is long. Sorry about Sakura hating Sasuke. But hey, can you blame her? I'd hate him, too. Too bad he "hates" her too. Oh but what does that mean? Hmm? Haha, again, only I know!**

**Next chapter will be Sasuke telling the twins, and a little bit of the beginning of training for the third exam. **

**BONUS! WHAT WILL HAPPEN WHEN SASUKE FINDS THE MARKS ON HIS CHILDREN?**

**REVIEW!!!!!!!!! I DIDN'T GET MUCH LAST TIME PEOPLE!!!! PLEASE! Plus, I thinking about adding a quick song in there, and I need to know what you guys think of that idea, cuz' I found THE PERFECT song for Sasuke, so yeah. REVIEW!**

**-UchihaKyoko-**


	7. A New Father A New Move

Disclaimer- I don't own any characters except Kimiko, Nao, Izumi, Shin, and Megumi, (and so on and so forth.)

"He's late." Shin whined.

Nao raised an eyebrow at Shin's especially whiny behavior. "Get over it, _Shii-chan_. He's always late."

Ino's blood boiled up in her son. "What did you call me?!"

Kimiko sat in silence. Usually she'd stop their fighting, but she was tired, not to mention, she hadn't even been herself since Megumi's attack. All she did was walk the streets alone, though at night she could go train with Nao. He'd always go home earlier than her, and afterwards she'd still just wander around. She had only spoken to Nao. She refused to even speak to Shin.

"Yo!" Sasuke greeted them as usual.

"Where were you?" Shin asked.

Now, Sasuke wasn't nearly as late as Kakashi had always been with him. He was a little more responsible- as in he didn't make up insane excuses.

"I got caught up in some annoying business." He muttered.

The man glanced at Kimiko. "You gonna talk to me today, Kimiko?"

His daughter glanced up lazily. She shook her head, and went back to staring at the ground in front of the tree she was leaning on.

"Well, too bad. You have to. I have to talk to you and Nao. Shin, you can go home." He said.

Although he wasn't happy about having to leave after waiting, he sighed and muttered. "With pleasure."

After he was gone, Sasuke motioned for the twins to join him on the ground. When they did, Sasuke sighed, not really sure what to say.

_Well, what am I supposed to say to them?! _He wondered. _'Hey guys, I guess I should tell you that I'm your father'?! No way! I'll just start with the Chuunin exams… maybe we can work it out from there…_

"I want to know what happened." He said finally.

Nao looked his sensei over. "Where?"

"At the Chuunin Exams." He told them.

Kimiko shrugged her shoulders, and Sasuke heard his daughters voice for the first time in a week. "Why would anything have happened? And why would it matter? We passed, didn't we?"

"What you said is true. You passed. But there are some… complications." He told them.

"What kind of 'complications'?" Nao asked.

Sasuke sighed and put his face in his hands, massaging his eyes. They really weren't making this easy on him. He could imagine why; it's not like he'd wanted anyone to know when he'd gotten the curse mark. "Guys, I'm just going to put it out there, because we have to help you."

This peaked the twins' interest, and they sat up. "Did you meet Orochimaru, or not?"

Kimiko and Nao's eyes shot open. Just thinking of him, the pain shot up both their necks, to the point where they could barely sit up. Sasuke forcibly removed Nao's hand from his neck, and he saw the curse mark. It was _just like his._

"So you guys did meet him. And he gave you what I have…" Sasuke's vice trailed off as he seemed slip into a daze.

"Sasuke-sensei?" Nao looked at him. Sasuke shook himself, and looked down at the boy. "What do you mean, 'what I have'?"

The raven-haired man wordlessly took off his shirt. He slipped it off with ease, and then bent down, allowing them to see his neck. As the two leaned forward, they saw the very thing that they had been thinking about for the past week. It looked _different_, in a way, though. Around it was a circle: a seal. Someone must've sealed its power away, and the two knew it was for a good reason. When Sasuke leaned back up again, putting his shirt back on, he saw Kimiko's eyes had glazed over.

"Hey." He pushed her chin back up. "Megumi's okay. It's this things fault," he said, tapping her neck. "You didn't do anything. The first time I used it was involuntary, too. Someone had pummeled your mother into a pathetic state. I got angry, and it took over. I ended up braking his arms, and I probably would have killed him if your mother hadn't stopped me."

"How?" Kimiko asked.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at his daughter. "How… how what?"

"How did she stop you?"

"She grabbed me from behind." He told them.

Nao pressed further. "So she hugged you."

Sasuke nodded. "Yes."

"That's how Izumi stopped me." He said, absentmindedly.

"Interesting." The man said.

Kimiko leaned back. "Sasuke-sensei?" the man looked at her, and nodded, telling her to go on. "Well… that is… do you… do you love our mother?"

The three looked at each other in silence for quite a long time. Curiosity gnawed at the younger children, and anxiety clawed at the elder's stomach. A wind passed through the training area with ease. Sasuke silently wished the words would just flow out of him with no difficulty, just like the wind smoothly rode through.

"I'm married." He said finally.

Kimiko raised an eyebrow, now. "But you don't love Karin-san. I can see it in your eyes."

Sasuke's breathing began to quicken. It was amazing how fast his daughter could catch onto things. He didn't know what to tell them. The truth was always a good choice, but he knew that all the years he worked, all the years of pushing his feelings aside, all the years of hurting himself for them, would just end right there if he told them the truth. So once again, he swallowed his feelings and his hatred towards the woman causing all this, and gave a simple explanation. "I don't love her. I don't love your mother…"

"But… you must have at one point." Nao said.

Sasuke looked at his son again. "What?"

"If you hadn't, we wouldn't exist." He said.

Now it was Sasuke's eyes that shot open. Half of him wasn't surprised that they knew, but the other half had desperately wanted to be the one that told them who he was.

"We know." Kimiko said. "We know everything… Father."

Sasuke nodded. "Yes. Yes, it's true. Now I only have one question." The twins' eyes turned curious as he looked down at them. "Do you accept me as your father?"

Nao and Kimiko looked at each other. They sat there like that for several moments, as if having a conversation that no one else could hear but themselves. They finally looked back at him, each wearing a genuine smile; something that had begun to seem foreign to them. "Yeah. We do."

Sasuke could no longer contain himself. He gave his children a gentle, caring smile. They looked shocked, but happy. They'd never seen him smile, which made it an even bigger deal to them, considering he was smiling at _them._ They couldn't contain themselves either. They jumped him, hugging the heck out of him. Usually, no one could enter Sasuke's personal space, but these were his children, which he hadn't held since the day they were born. He hugged them back, and everything was… _almost_ sorted out.

"So," Sasuke said coming out of the hug. "This means either one of you, or both, will get the sharingan."

"We already have it." The two pointed at each other with a face that looked like it should be the most obvious thing in the world.

The raven-haired man was truly taken aback now. "What?"

"During the Chuunin Exams… they just like… awakened." Kimiko said.

"I'm so proud of you both, you know that? Rookies of the year… awakening your sharingan… all the progress you've made over the past years… it's amazing to me, I guess."

His children smiled. "Yeah."

Kimiko's eyes narrowed, and her eyes turned red. "There's someone over there." She said, pointing to a cluster of trees and bushes. Sasuke and Nao turned and looked over, following the direction her finger was pointing to. Sure enough, a person emerged from the bushes.

"Eh…?" Sasuke looked confused. "Kakashi?!"

"Yo!" the white-haired shinobi called with a wave.

Kimiko and Nao looked at each other. "Kakashi-oji-chan?" **(A/N: Oji-chan is for uncle, or someone in their middle aged years, such as Kakashi.)**

"Hey, Kimiko, Nao, Sasuke. Since we're both here, Sasuke, I don't see the issue of us telling them together." Kakashi said.

Sasuke hung his head. "Since when are you to the point, Kakashi?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I dunno."

"Hello! Two confused kids here!" Nao said.

"Well," Sasuke began, "as you know, the third exam is in a month. When I took the exam, Kakashi personally trained me, one-on-one. Now, it's your turn." He looked over at Nao. "I intend, if you'd let me, to train you, Nao. I've gotten Sakura's permission and everything."

Nao's eyes lit up. To be trained by _Sasuke!_ It was a huge deal. "Yeah! Sure!"

"And Kimiko," Kakashi said, gaining the attention again, "would it be horrible for you to train with me? In your spare time, Sakura intends to teach you medical ninjutsu, but I would be your official instructor."

Kimiko nodded, beaming. "Okay!

"Awesome." Kakashi and Sasuke said.

**THE NEXT DAY…**

"It's time you learned a very… well… powerful move, Kimiko." Kakashi said.

Kimiko cocked her head to the side. "What kind of move, Kaka-sensei?"

Kakashi smiled. He loved that question, but moreover, he loved having an enthusiastic student. Sasuke had been great to train, but training Kimiko was a whole new experience, for she actually seemed like she was excited to be there.

"Well… I taught it to your father for these exams. I think it's extremely helpful…" he said, his voice trailing off as he slipped into thought.

_Just as long as she's not paired against __**him**__…_

"I'm ready, Kaka-sensei!"

"**What kind of move, Dad?"**

Sasuke loved being called "Dad" by Nao, so he smirked. "Well, I was taught this by Kakashi. It's… really… cool."

Nao laughed at his father's hesitation to use the word 'cool'. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, questioning what was so funny. Nao shook his head and hand, as in, "Never mind, you wouldn't get it."

The Uchiha nodded. "Well, let's get on with it, shall we?"

"**Whoa!" **

Kimiko looked as the dust cleared. "That was amazing, Kaka-sensei!"

Kakashi brushed his fingertips against his vest in mock…er… pompous…ness…? "Yeah… it was… wasn't it?"

"Mr. Humble pie." Kimiko muttered.

"**Sugoi!!" (amazing)**

Nao stood in shock as he looked at the rock his father had just decimated. It was truly amazing to him. Even on missions, he'd never seen Sasuke do something like _that._ It was a wonder that he didn't use it more often!

"You ready to try, Nao?" Sasuke asked.

The boy nodded enthusiastically. There was no way he was missing learning that move! "Hell yeah!"

Sasuke smirked. "Then go for it."

"**Then go for it, Kimiko."**

The pink-haired girl nodded. "Hai!"

"**Hai!"**

Nao looked at the rock, then at his own hands.

_I hope I can do this!_ **(Okay, now the bold is the twins together.)**

_**Hand signs… think… oh right!**_

The two were, unknowingly, learning the same jutsu at the same time.

_**Okay… go! Monkey, dragon, rat, bird, ox, snake, dog, tiger, monkey! Now… gather the chakra in my palm… and…**_

"**CHIDORI!" they yelled, and threw the balls of compact lightning and chakra at the rocks that were in front of them.**

"Impressive, Kimiko!" Kakashi yelled to the girl. "On the first try… that's insanely impressive! I'm proud."

Kimiko huffed and puffed, but she held her head up and smiled at her teacher.

"**Great, Nao!"**

Sasuke smiled a small, but proud, smile at his son. "To get that on the first try… it's amazing!"

Nao breathed heavily, but held a smirk on his face and held up on thumb.

_**Now I just gotta do well at the Chuunin exams!**_

**A/N:**

**Hmmmm. I thought this one was veeeeeryyyyyyy…. Ummm… okay. It was fun to write though! (Do you know how hard it was finding the correct hand signs for the chidori?!) Haha! Sorry if using bold words and dialogue for transitions confused you, my dear reader. If you don't get who's taking when, just ask me! **

**Next begins the Chuunin exams! I also must apologize for there being no problems in the story. But you simply MUST believe me when I tell you that it's going to change from the Chuunin exams and forward from there! I just thought that him talking to them about being their father was supposed to be an important, mushy moment! –hugs self for dramatic effect-**

**REVIEW! I always end it like this, so there is nothing left to say but REVIEW! (AGAIN!)**

**UchihaKyoko**


	8. The Chuunin Matches

Disclaimer- I don't own Narutooooo!

"Hey! Come one you lazy little examinee!" a voice rang in Kimiko's ears.

She sat up and saw her mom smiling at her pleasantly. "Mom? Why so early?"

"The third exam starts today! Get up, now. I've made breakfast… and I'd hurry before your brother demolishes it." Sakura said with a laugh.

Her mother's over-excitedness was confusing Kimiko. Sakura had seemed off the past month, like something was on her mind. Kimiko guessed it had been Sasuke, but she couldn't really say for sure. She didn't know the story of how Sasuke abandoned her mother. All she knew was that Sasuke and her mother weren't together. There was no way the girl would guess that he abandoned her. What she did know was that no matter what she said, Sakura loved him, and that would never change.

Kimiko nodded, still lost in thought.

"Hello…? Kimiko?" Sakura waved her hand in her daughter's face. "Didn't you hear me?"

Kimiko looked up at her mother, as if everything she'd been saying had just registered. "Oh my God! The exam!" she yelled and jumped out of bed.

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Teenagers." She said.

"Kimi!" Nao greeted his sister in the kitchen. "Come on, eat up. We have to be at the arena in 45 minutes!"

Kimiko laughed and sat at the table, looking at the rice and natto in front of her. She rubbed her hands together, grabbed her chopsticks, and said, "Itadakimasu!" in a sing-song tone.

After breakfast, Kimiko and Nao headed for the door.

"Oy! Wait!"

"Eh…? Kiba-nii?" the two turned around to see their mother's best friend.

He stopped in front of them with a smile. "I want you two… to be very careful." He said. "This exam is not to be taken lightly. _People have died._" The twin's eyes widened. "Just… just don't get to riled up… kay?"

They nodded. Without another word, they dashed out into the streets. It was obvious that even Kiba knew about the curse mark. Neither of them knew why theirs hadn't been sealed like their father's, though. They weren't about to ask, either. All they knew, and wanted to know, was that everyone knew about it.

**AT THE BEGINNING OF THE EXAMS**

Kimiko looked around her. People surrounded everyone. She didn't think she'd seen that many people all together in her entire life! It made her a little more nervous than she had been before. The Kazekage, her Gaara-Nii, was watching. Feudal Lords were watching as well. Kimiko almost broke a sweat.

The girl looked at the competitors.

_Nao, Shin, Izumi, Katashi, Nana, Akimichi Hitoshi, Aburame Ume, Sabaku No Hioshi, and… oh my God. Is that… Megumi?! _

"Megumi. She… passed."

"Attention! Here are all the matches!" the examiner yelled, and everyone got quiet. "Nana vs. Akimichi Hitoshi!" the two looked at each other and nodded.

"Sabaku No Hioshi vs. Nara Shin!" Shin glanced at the only competitor from outside their village and began contemplating things about her in his head.

"Uchiha Katashi vs. Aburame Ume!" Katashi didn't even look at the girl, but Ume stole a quick glance at her opponent.

"Haruno Nao vs. Uzumaki Izumi!" the friends looked at each other with a mixture of horror and shock. Both of them mouthed, "what?"

_Oh my… that leaves me with…!_

"Haruno Kimiko vs. Hyuuga Megumi!"

**A/N:**

**Yeah, this one's mega short. But I've been sick, so there's not much more I could do! T.T Anyways, this was mainly to announce the matches for the Chuunin Exams. I shocked you with the last two, didn't I? Haha, I shocked myself with those. **

**REVIEW! REVIEW OR I WON'T PUT UP THE NEXT CHAPTER TOMORROW!**

**-HUGS!-**

**UchihaKyoko**


	9. A Fight Going Wrong

DISCLAIMER- it is exactly what it says.

Nao ad Izumi met at the top of the stairs. Nao was clenching his fists, and Izumi looked as though she might cry. They looked up at each other with mixed emotions, none of which a young teenager should have to face.

"Izumi-chan… I… I…!" Nao tried to say he didn't want to fight her. The words simply wouldn't come out.

Izumi looked at him sadly. "It's okay, Nao-kun. Even if we have to fight… it's okay. We'll be friends no matter what…. Kay?"

Nao nodded. "But… this… _thing_…" he grasped his shoulder. "what if I hurt you, Izumi-chan? I don't want to hurt you."

"Hey," she said with a smile. "give me some credit! I can fight too."

The raven-haired boy smiled back. "That's not what I meant and you know it. What if… I lose control again? I don't want to lose control. I don't want to hurt you."

Izumi's eyes softened. She looked at him with true intensity and stepped forward. Just as her mouth was about to meet his, she turned her head so that she was by his ear. "Then don't." she whispered. "Don't forfeit. Don't run. Just fight me." She pulled away and looked him straight in the eye. "This blonde hair isn't the only thing my dad passed on to me. And these eyes aren't just for show."

"I see." Nao smirked, summoning up the courage not to show her that he was scared. "Then this will be interesting, won't it?"

Izumi nodded. "You know it will."

"First match!" the examiner's voice echoed through the arena. "Nana v. Akimichi Hitoshi!"

Nao watched as the pair descended down the stairs. Nana looked bored as usual, and Hitoshi looked a little frightened. As the pair fought, Nao looked at his sister. She looked nervous. She looked anxious. She looked… _scared_. The raven-haired boy walked over to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Hey." He said.

She didn't even looked up at him. "Yo." She muttered.

"Don't freak out. I have to fight Izumi." He said.

Kimiko looked up at him now. "Yeah… and I know that you… I know how you _feel _bout her. But… you haven't beaten Izumi to a pulp before. You haven't used the thing in full throttle."

"Just don't let it take over, Kimi." He said. "You don't belong to it. It belongs to you."

"And suddenly you're Mr. Optimistic?"

"I'm not the one that didn't talk for a whole week, Ms. Pessimistic." He grunted.

Kimiko shrugged. "Fair enough." She said. "This curse mark thing… can we really surpass it out there?"

"We won't know…" Nao said. "…until we try."

"Winner: Nana!" the examiner's voice rang out. The twins watched as Hitoshi was carried off in a stretcher and Nana came back to their level. She received many pats on the back as she walked to Shin.

"You're up." She said.

Kimiko ran to Shin.

"Hey!" she called out and Shin immediately stopped.

He turned and faced her with a smile. "Yeah?"

Kimiko took a chance and hugged the boy. He was shocked, but recovered from it fast enough to put his arms around her waist. "Just don't… just don't tear yourself up too much… okay, Shin?"

He pulled out of the hug and looked her straight in the eyes. "I won't. I promise."

Shin left as his hands slid through Kimiko's. "Be careful Shin… be careful." She whispered.

"And I know how _you_ feel about _him_, Kimi." Nao's voice rang out behind her.

She smiled. "That obvious?"

"Kimi… it's more obvious than the fact that the Fourth was Naruto-Nii's father." Nao said with a smirk.

Kimiko laughed now. "That's pretty damn obvious."

"The match between Sabaku No Hioshi and Nara Shin begins… now!"

Kimiko was practically hung over the banister. Nao was, too. Izumi had joined them, along with Katashi.

Sand lunged at Shin. He swiftly dodged it and stared Hioshi down. Even from there, Kimiko heard Shin's voice, and he sounded just like his father.

"How troublesome."

She almost laughed.

"Kage Mane no Jutsu!" he yelled.

Hioshi was bound tight. She couldn't move, other than what Shin wanted her to do. But when Shin tried to move, he couldn't.

"What the-?!" Shin looked the immobile girl over. "A clone!" he exclaimed in realization.

Kimiko's eyes shot open she saw something her friend didn't. "Shin!" she screamed. "Behind you!"

He turned fast, releasing his jutsu, and dodged the girl's sand spear just in time. There was no way Shin could do the mind transfer, not without Kimiko and Nao there to back him up. It would take to long. He sighed, figuring he'd just have to wait for an opening or he wouldn't win.

"_You don't have to win, Shin. I became Chuunin by forfeit."_ Shikamaru's voice suddenly rang in his ears. _"I'm going to be proud whether you become Chuunin or not. You are my son."_

"Alright, Dad." Shin said, pulling out some kunai. "Alright."

_If I can avoid her long enough… maybe I-_

"Oy!" Hioshi's voice cut off his thoughts. "Is this all you got shadow boy?"

"Tch." Shin grunted and quoted his father. "Fighting with girls. How troublesome."

Although, she had a point, Shin had to admit that to himself. He could fight with her forever, and the result would always be the same. She'd dodge it, and he'd go at it again. Besides, his chakra was low enough already. The boy knew it was stupid to train before the match. But still… he needed to show everyone that he wasn't worthless. He had to get her once… and something in his brain snapped. He knew how.

Hioshi shot the sand at him again. Her chakra reserves were MUCH larger than Shin's. She had nothing to worry about. The sand made a smooth beeline to Shin, never disconnecting from the gourd on her back.

Shin smirked. The arena fell silent as the boy stood there, as if waiting to die. In the contestants box, his friends grimaced.

The sand froze.

"What the hell?!" Hioshi exclaimed. She couldn't move. The sand retracted into her gourd, but the shadow it made stayed in place.

"Something wrong, Hioshi-chan?" Shin asked her mockingly.

Hioshi gave him a glare that could kill any man. Shin just shrugged and raised his hand. Hioshi did, too.

"What? He going to make me forfeit?" she whispered.

"Okay!" he yelled. "I give up."

"WHAT?!" Hioshi yelled.

The official walked up to Shin. "You sure, kid?"

Shin shrugged. "Yeah, I've got her now, but my chakra is almost spent. I've got maybe another five seconds to hold on. Then, she'd win hands down anyway."

Sure enough, the shadow let go of Hioshi and she relaxed her body.

The examiner nodded and announced, "Winner: Sabaku no Hioshi!"

Shin headed up to the level where Kimiko and the others were. The minute he walked through the entry, he was pounced by Kimiko in a hug. "Great!" she yelled. "You were great!"

He laughed. "Thanks, Kimi."

Kimiko let go and smiled brightly at him.

_I feel weird thinking this…_ Shin thought. _… but she's really pretty… more so when she smiles…_

Katashi and Aburame Ume were next. SHOCKER! Katashi won. DUH.

"Haruno Nao vs. Uzumaki Izumi!" the two headed down at their names.

While in the staircase, Izumi looked at Nao. "Hey," she said. "don't go easy on me or anything just because I'm a girl."

Nao laughed. "Who'd do something like that?" he said, if only to keep her happy.

She laughed too. "Okay! Good!"

They faced each other, a bit more seriously, in the arena. Up in the others' level, Kimiko looked worried.

"Don't worry, Kimi!" Shin said. "Nao can keep himself in check, no problem."

Kimiko nodded, desperately wanting to believe those words.

"Begin!"

Nao and Izumi flew at each other with kunai at the same time. The sound of steel hitting steel filled the air as the two went at it.

"Kage Bushin no Jutsu!" Izumi yelled, and five more of her appeared.

Nao wasn't sure what to do, because he'd never sparred with Izumi before. He just realized he didn't know any of her techniques… or anything about her fighting style for that matter.

The clones rushed him, and he didn't have any time to react. One tripped him, another sent him flying. He closed his eyes, and felt himself being beaten up in the air as the Izumi clones yelled:

"U!"

"ZU!"

"MA!"

"KI!"

A foot slammed into his stomach. It was stronger than the others, and in a split second he guessed it was the real Izumi.

"IZUMI RENDAN!"

He was knocked into the ground mercilessly. Nao felt himself grow angry, for no reason. He activated his sharingan, and the crowd gasped. Nao could hear, "He's an UCHIHA?!" and he could practically feel his father wincing, but he didn't know why.

Izumi smirked. "Come on, Nao. Your turn. You want to try to hit me with a Shishi rendan now that I've got you with mine?"

Nao shook his head. "What am I? A one trick show?" he said, angry, again, and he didn't know why.

"Oh… no." Izumi whispered. The black marks spread across Nao's body.

They were stronger this time. Nao could feel it. The curse mark was full of murderous intent this time. But Nao wasn't going to murder Izumi. HE tried to suppress the marks, but they kept spreading.

ANBU agents stood up, but Naruto's voice rang out from the Kage's level. "Stop! Don't interfere. If he doesn't stop it, he'll kill you anyways!"

Sasuke looked over at his friend. (He was up in the Kage's box with him.) Was he really putting so much faith in Nao that he was willing to risk his own daughter's life? The Uchiha wasn't sure he could do that if it was Kimiko and not Izumi down in that arena.

"Come one, Nao. Come one. You can stop it. Come on." Izumi whispered.

The black marks receded. "Yes…" Nao whispered.

Izumi smiled and decided it was time to go on with the fight.

Nao remembered to use the mirror ability in the sharingan. His father had shown him an amazing kick originated by none other than Rock Lee. He used the insane speed that Sasuke had also spent time teaching him, and disappeared before Izumi's eyes. That's how fast he was. By the time she could see him again, he was right in front of her, and he kicked her right below the jaw, this time sending her flying.

Rock Lee was watching in the stands with wide eyes. "N-no way. That's my-?" he looked at Sasuke, who was looking back at him and smirking. Lee gave him a thumb's up and smiled. Sasuke nodded and looked away. "Very good, Sasuke-kun." Lee said, putting his thumb down.

By that time, Nao was in the air with Izumi, behind her. He spun his body and slammed his leg into her stomach. She was shot straight into the ground.

"Heh." He huffed. "How's that?"

Izumi stood up shakily. "Pretty good. Try this one on for size." She formed the proper hand seal and yelled. "Kage Bushin no Jutsu!"

One clone appeared beside her, and a spinning ball of chakra formed in her hand. The clone seemed to be compacting it…

"Fine. Then you try this!" Nao formed his hand sealed and a compact ball of lightning energy developed in his hand.

Izumi's clone disappeared and she charged at Nao, who charged back.

(_Naruto and Izumi, _Sasuke and Nao, **both, one pair or the other**)

"_Sasuke…"_

"Naruto…"

The friends looked at each other.

"**Shit."**

"_RASENGAN!"_

"CHIDORI!"

**A/N:**

**Hey! Sorrrrry. This one took longer than usual. It was fun to write! I kinda liked this one. I hope you guys did too!**

**Well, I had a really busy weekend, and I have a cheer thing all this week, so I'll try to keep updating. Hopefully at the most I'll only miss one day!**

**REVIEW! Please. I got a lot last time and it made me very, very happy!!!! DO IT AGAIN! Haha!**

**-HUGS!-**

_**UchihaKyoko**_


	10. Curse Marks and Divorces

DISCLAIMER- no Naruto for me… yet….! j/k j/k j/k!

"Nao!" Kimiko called out to her brother. What was he, insane? Why would he aim a chidori at Izumi? He knew what it could do. He _knew_. Tears welled up in her eyes. She wasn't an idiot. Rasengan was powerful... one of them... one of them could die. She might lose one of the two most important people to her... her twin... and her best friend.

She couldn't watch this anymore. She had to stop them!

**AT THE SAME TIME, WITH SASUKE**

"Nao! Stop!" Sasuke called. They were going to hit. They were going to kill each other. "No!" he grinded his teeth. "I'm not losing him! _I'm not losing my son!_" 

With that, Sasuke leapt to Nao's aid. 

**IN THE ARENA**

"CHIDORI!"

"RASENGAN!"

Just at the balls of chakra were about to hit, Nao and Izumi were pulled back. Naruto and Gaara stood, along with everyone else in amazement. 

But… why? Why were they so amazed?

Because, my dear reader, there, in the arena, stood five- not two- but five people.

"Kimiko." Nao whispered. 

"Kaka-sensei?" Sasuke sad under his breath.

"Sasuke-sensei?" Izumi looked at the man in confusion.

"Nao." Kimiko grabbed her brother by the shoulders.

"Izumi!" Kakashi walked to the blond-haired girl.

Sasuke joined his children as Kakashi went to speak with Izumi. The crowd gazed on. 

**SASUKE, NAO, AND KIMIKO'S CONVERSATION**

"Nao! What the hell were you thinking, using that on her!" Kimiko chastised her brother. "You could've killed her. She could've killed you! Are you insane! Are you-"

Sasuke clapped a hand to Kimiko's thin shoulder. "That's enough, Kimiko." He turned to the raven-haired boy. 'But she's right Nao. Kakashi told me that jutsu is not for training with friends. Especially when you've got… well… you know. This." He tapped the nape of his neck. 

Nao nodded. "Yeah… yeah, okay, Dad."

The words solemnly flowed from the boy's mouth. It was obvious that Nao was ANYTHING but okay. Kimiko looked up at her father. "Dad… umm… m-… may I?" she asked him, as in "LET ME TALK TO THE POOR BOY ALONE!"

"Yeah. Sure." Sasuke said. As he got up, his mouth brushed by Kimiko's ear. She shivered as she pieced together the words he stung out so loosely for her.

"Watch him, Kimiko. If you're not careful, _you will die._"

Kimiko's eyes shot wide, and her brother's eyes went curious. "Dad…" she whispered. 

Tears came to her eyes. _Dad… you… you don't mean that! Please… don't mean that. Make it a joke. Make it unreal. You are my father. Can't you make it… go away?_

"Make it stop." She said, out loud. 

Nao turned to her. "What?"

Kimiko shook herself. "Nothing. I want to know what's wrong."

The teenager looked at his sister. "No… I don't want to tell you."

"You have to." Kimiko said. "I want to help."

Nao turned away. "Well, I don't want your help! I don't need it!"

"Nao. Tell me. You owe me this." Kimiko said, calmly.

"I owe you nothing! NOTHING!" he screamed, attracting attention. Kimiko stood, a calm look cascaded over her face. But, it wasn't true. She wasn't calm. Her hands and knees shook with fear. Only one word fell from her mouth at she walked away. "Fine."

As Nao watched the retreating figure of his sister, he got angry… really angry. He didn't understand why nor how he came to feel that way. All he knew is that he wanted someone to die. He wanted to kill someone.

_I'm mad, Kimiko. _He thought to himself, as if he were actually speaking with his sister. _That's what's wrong. I'm mad and I don't know why. I'm scared, Kimiko. _

_Help me._

Nao fell to his knees, pounding his fist against the ground, harder and harder. Izumi ran from Kakashi to him.

"Nao-kun?" she put her hands on his shoulders. "Nao-kun!"

He flung her off. "Don't touch me." 

He stood up, shaking with pure fury ad Izumi looked on with fear. The air swirled around the arena; around Nao. Kimiko was back up in the competitor's box. She watched with intensity, and curiosity, but she had no intention of going down to him and stopping him. 

"Kimiko!" Shin shook her, hard. "What are you waiting for? Stop him."

Kimiko didn't even look at him. All she could do was shake her head and say, "No. Not this time. This time… it's all him."

Shin stepped back. This hardly seemed like the girl who had embraced him in congratulations only minutes ago. In fact, he knew it wasn't her. Something had to be wrong. But… what…?

Cursed, black marks swallowed everything that was Nao. His body was no longer his, but now it belonged to the man who had caused it all. He didn't look like himself at all. His skin was gray and his hair grew to an amazing length. 

_Help me._

"What the…!" Sasuke watched his son. "Why is he… how is he…. at… stage two!" 

Naruto rushed to his best friend's side. "Sasuke! What is going on with Nao? Why is he doing this!"

Sasuke looked solemnly at his friend. "I… I don't know."

_I wonder… if… he even knows…?_

The wind stopped. Nao stood as people watched in shock and fear. He looked at his hands, almost falling over in shock. Why were they gray? What was wrong with him? What was this… power? He looked up at his sister with eyes that said, "Please. I'm begging you."

"Help me." He said.

Kimiko immediately knew what her brother was saying. She couldn't take it any longer. All the pink-haired girl thought was that she had to save her brother. Kimiko jumped from the box down to him and looked him in the eyes. She activated her sharingan and the pair of blood red orbs met with such intensity that Nao could tell his sister knew what to do.

Kimiko linked her hands with his and held them at shoulder height. Their thoughts were voiced, without them moving their lips. They echoed through the stadium.

"Kimiko… I'm dying."

"Then I will save you." All heard Kimiko's voice. 

"What if you can't?" Nao's doubt was clear.

"Then I will die with you."

"I don't want you to die, Kimiko."

"Then help me, Nao. Believe in me."

"I do believe in you."

"Then prove it." 

Shin jumped down with Sakura. They met with the people who cared most about the twins: Sasuke, Izumi, Kiba, and Naruto. Izumi and Sakura's tears of fear were mixed with the men's shaking anxiety. No one wanted them to die.

A bright purple light burst from their hands. The twins were lifted high into the air and their eyes closed as Kimiko spoke gentle words, as though to God himself.

"We're in this together. I will never leave him. Save him."

Nao's body went completely back normal. They descended to the ground slowly, with everyone watching. Kimiko repeated the words over and over again until the light went out and her eyes shot open in slight fear and complete shock.

"Come on…" she said loudly.

"_Orochimaru!"_ the two said together, and they gathered chakra in their fist just before punching the ground. One large crack opened, revealing a shocked Orochimaru and his faithful attendant, Kabuto. 

His shock faded to pure amusement when he saw the twins and Sasuke, who'd rushed to the when they'd said "Orochimaru". The snake-like cackle split the air. 

"Orochimaru." Sasuke growled. 

Orochimaru climbed from his hiding place. "Good to see you again, Sasuke-kun. Have you missed me?"

"Not even for a day you heartless bastard." Sasuke said.

Orochimaru laughed again. "What a way to speak to a _former sensei."_ He said, putting emphasis on the last two words for all those who didn't know.

Kimiko and Nao stepped away from their father and looked him over. "What?"

Sasuke looked at them with true anguish. "I'm sorry." He told them quietly, then turning back to Orochimaru. "Like I should take that from the man who killed his sensei, the _Third Hokage!"_

Orochimaru sighed. "The sharp tongue as always, Sasuke-kun." He turned to the twins. "How have you enjoyed my gifts, Nao-kun, Kimiko-chan?"

Kimiko stepped forward. "You saw what just happened. What the hell do you think!"

The snake-like man just shrugged, and then a woman's voice came from behind him. "Are you going to do what I asked you to or not? If you don't, you'll never get the people you want."

"K-Karin!" Sakura exclaimed. 

Sasuke saw the woman with Orochimaru. "What the…! Karin, are you working with him!" 

Nao and Kimiko stood in a shocked silence, along with everyone else in the stadium and the arena. Why was Karin working with Orochimaru? She was married to their father, Sasuke. Why would she betray a man she worked so hard to steal from their poor mother?

"It's your fault, Sasuke-kun." She said. "You left me."

_What!_ Kimiko thought. _When did he…! Why!_

Sakura stepped up to Sasuke. "You… you what?" she asked him.

"_That _was your fault." Sasuke said, ignoring Sakura for the moment. "You insulted… _threatened_ my children!"

Nao began stepping to the woman, saying, "Why you useless little piece of-" but Kiba pulled him back, shaking his head. Everyone knew the Nao was weakened, and the dog-man wasn't about to let the boy he of thought as his own fight someone who would kill him (Orochimaru, not Karin. Everyone also knew that a drunken four-year-old could murder Karin with a pacifier.)

"You picked them over me! I am your _wife._ I come first, not that tramp's children!" Karin screamed, and Orochimaru seemed to be amused at the argument, so he let it keep going.

Sasuke was growing angry. "One: you _were_ my wife. Never again will I make a mistake like that! Two: if you ever call Sakura a tramp again, I'll kill you."

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura whispered.

Karin fell silent and Orochimaru spoke up. "Well, if you two are finished…" he raised his arms and up came his many minions. "Let's see how much better Konoha has gotten!" 

Naruto looked up at Gaara who appeared in a whirl of sand. "You don't have the sand with you this time, Orochimaru." Naruto snarled. 

Before them, all the genin appeared, along with the rest of the Konoha 12: Hinata, Neji, Tenten, Rock Lee, Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Shino. With them came Sai, Yamato, and Gai. 

"All ANBU stay back!" Naruto called. "This one is all us." 

Kimiko and Nao thought it was foolish to send ANBU away, but they also knew that this was personal. They couldn't wait for the chance to blow Orochimaru to Hell.

"Shall we begin then?" Orochimaru asked with a sly smirk.

"You have to ask?" Sasuke growled. 

Naruto held Sasuke back. "We have to get away from here. Konoha is in danger." And Sasuke nodded. The 6th Hokage turned to the people that he was going to fight with. "Everyone, be careful. I can't afford to lose any of you."

Everyone nodded.

"Then…" Naruto blinked slowly, a sign that there was much more gravity to the situation than the people might assume.

Kimiko, Nao, Sasuke, and Sakura all watched the great man carefully. 

"Everyone follow escape route 6!" he yelled, and everyone leaped off, followed closely by Orochimaru, Karin, Kabuto, and his followers. 

"It's beginning, Nao." Kimiko told her brother. 

"What, Kimiko?" he asked. 

She looked at him with serious, but solemn eyes and activated her sharingan.

"A revolution."

**A/N:**

**Well, sorry this took so much longer than usual, but I'm on vacation. Plus I had writer's block! T.T**

**I hope this wasn't too confusing and fast-paced, guys. I hope you didn't think this was stupid! Please, don't think it's stupid! **

**SPECIAL THANKS TO ****DARK ANGEL FALL****! If it weren't for her, this probably would've turned out REALLY BAD. I appreciate you're ideas that you gave me!**

**PLEASE REVIEW! I really need them on this one, because I'm like… EH! You know? Probably not. Anyways, there's fighting next, so reviews would really make me happy. **


	11. The Last Thing She Tasted

Disclaimer- Okay, I'm just gunna stop putting this because everyone knows I don't own Naruto

Disclaimer- Okay, I'm just going to stop putting this because everyone knows I don't own Naruto.

Kimiko skidded to a halt in the center of a clearing, along with all her other companions. She watched Naruto carefully to see their next move. He himself looked dubious, and Kimiko wasn't even sure if he had a plan. The next person she searched for was her mother and Kiba. The pink-haired girl soon found them standing close, Kiba whispering, what must've been, words of comfort to her.

Kimiko had no more time to look for anyone else, for Orochimaru had just skidded into the clearing, along with Karin, Kabuto, and his other followers.

She felt someone nudge her shoulder. She turned and saw Sasuke staring down at her.

Kimiko glared at him and he winced inwardly. She'd found out all about him training with Orochimaru. "We don't have time for talk, Dad."

"I don't want to talk." He muttered. "I just want you to be careful of your brother, more than yourself."

Kimiko's eyes narrowed in confusion. "Why?"

"He's much more unstable than you are. It may have been you who used the curse mark first, but his seems to be more active." Sasuke said quietly. "I think it's possible that he's Orochimaru's target."

The girl shuddered and glanced at her brother. She barely even knew who he was anymore.

_I can't even read him at all anymore. _

Just as she was about to tell her father this, Orochimaru's horrid voice slithered its way around the clearing. "So, shall we begin this little skirmish?"

"With pleasure." Sasuke hissed.

"Then…." Orochimaru looked at his minions. "…Begin!"

Kimiko heard Naruto yowl a war cry as he and her father leapt at Orochimaru. She saw her mother and Karin going at it, and Kiba faced off with a man who Kimiko didn't recognize. She didn't have anymore time, for a boy, who she suspected was her age, jumped her.

The girl sprang into action. She immediately threw him off and formed her proper seals. "Katon: Goukyou no Jutsu!"

A huge fireball seemed to swallow the boy whole, but he emerged from the flame without so much as a burn. His silver hair wasn't even singed.

"I guess I should have higher standards for those who work with Orochimaru." Kimiko seethed.

His golden eyes glared at her. "Don't put me on his level."

Kimiko's eyes widened with shock. _What…?_

Before she could prepare herself, he lunged at her again, and this time, they barreled into the depths of the forest… and into a deep, dark hole.

**NAO, AT THESE MOMENTS**

_Concentrate, you idiot!_

Nao leapt out of his attacker's way. He grabbed the man's wrist and threw his onto a tree. A large crack erupted from his body, and Nao guessed he'd broken his spine. Blood leaked from the man's mouth, but for a split second, just before he felt anguish, Nao felt power.

He almost punched himself for that.

But he didn't. Instead, he turned to face his next challenge with his blood red eyes.

**KIMIKO**

"What the hell…? What's this hole?" Kimiko heard a boy's voice.

She opened her eyes and looked at him. She must have been knocked out for a second.

He looked back at her. The boy seemed to study her for a moment, and then held out his hand to help her up. Kimiko found this strange, but she wasn't one to distrust, so she took it.

"What's your name?" he asked her.

Caught off guard by the question, Kimiko stood there, shocked. When he raised his eyebrow, she merely asked, "Why aren't you attacking me?"

The boy leaned his head to the side. "What?"

Kimiko was truly baffled by him. "You were with Orochimaru." She said, and he nodded. "You attacked me." He nodded again. "And now were in a secluded hole, and you're not doing anything?" He nodded once more.

She narrowed her eyes at him, activating her sharingan. Although, something deep, deep inside her heart was telling her that it was wrong to do so. Something told her that he wasn't evil, but that he was very good.

The silent threat didn't even faze him. Instead, he asked her again, "What is your name?" with a smile on his face.

But it wasn't a REAL smile. It wasn't fake, though, either. It was lonelier than anything. It seemed to Kimiko that the weight of his loneliness could crush the world.

So she smiled back at him. "I'm Kimiko," she said, "Haruno Kimiko."

His eyes shot open. "Kimiko-san. Please… you need to come with me."

She stepped back. "Wh…what…? Why?"

"Because you and I are going to save your brother,"

**WITH NAO**

Nao kicked off his latest attacker. "Dammit! Where are all these people coming from?!"

He stood; huffing and he put his hands on his knees, his head hanging. The raven-haired boy looked around and saw his father and Naruto struggling to get up. "Dad! Naruto-Nii!" he called, just about to run to them. But before he could, a hand tapped his shoulder.

"Nao-kun." A horrifyingly familiar voice slithered into Nao's ear.

He turned to face the man. "Orochimaru."

Orochimaru slid towards him and Nao activated his sharingan.

"Orochimaru!" The two turned to see Kimiko and a boy who Nao did not know. "Get the hell away from my brother."

The snake man snickered. "Yuki-kun, my dear boy. Why have you brought the girl? I just might have to _punish_ you for disobeying me again."

"This goes beyond disobeying you, Orochimaru." Yuki growled. "This is betrayal."

Kimiko looked at him. She hadn't known him for long, but she felt increasingly proud of him.

"Then I guess I have to kill you, then, Yuki-kun." Orochimaru said with a glare.

Kimiko snapped. She activated her sharingan and stepped forward. "Don't you dare touch him!"

Nao looked back and forth between the boy called "Yuki" and his sister. The pair of them together seemed vaguely familiar…although, he couldn't place it.

"Oh…?" Orochimaru drew the conversation out as the war cries droned on in the background. "Yuki… have you…? Again…?" he began cackling. "Oh, you stupid boy! This… _she_…with only lead you into darkness again and _you_ with drag her along."

Kimiko looked up at Yuki. She had no idea who it was the first time around, but she did know that Orochimaru was talking about her this time.

She turned and looked for her father. They were Uchiha, but even so, three Genins couldn't defeat Orochimaru, as recent events, and history, told them. Kimiko spotted her father battling off three men, trying to get to them.

"Dad!" Kimiko yelled to him. As she tried to get to him, Yuki grabbed her arm.

"Let him be." Yuki whispered. "Uchiha Sasuke is strong. As his student, and his daughter, you should know this."

She stared at him, wide-eyed. How had he known that she was his student? What about how he knew she was his daughter?

Kimiko turned back to the snake man. She felt Nao's gaze burning through her, but she didn't look his way. All she could do was look at the beady black eyes staring back at her.

_We can't beat him. Dad was our sensei, so since he was with Orochimaru… he'll know everything we do before we can even pull out a kunai. As for Yuki-kun, I don't even know his abilities, and he was with Orochimaru, too. _

_So what the hell are we going to do?!_

"Are we just going to stand here forever? Or are you children really going to take me on?" Orochimaru said with a sly grin.

A firm and fell upon Kimiko's head. "Not today, Orochimaru. Leave this village, or I'll kill you for real this time."

Kimiko looked up in shock, along with Nao and Yuki. "Dad?!"

Sasuke didn't look at them. He kept his cold, steady gaze on the man who was trying to take his son.

"Sasuke-kun!" Orochimaru said. "Come to join the fun, eh?"

"Your fun has gotten old, you old pedophile." Sasuke seethed, surprisingly seriously.

Orochimaru's amused gazed faded. His face seemed to say, "I've heard that just one too many times, Sasuke-kun." If she weren't feeling the weight of each moment, Kimiko would've laughed.

"Kimiko, Nao, Yuki," Sasuke said, without looking at them, "get out of here."

_He knows Yuki-kun…?_

"No!" Nao exclaimed. "We're not going to leave you here!"

"_Go_, Nao."

Nao shook his head. "No. Before you're our father, you're our sensei. Would you have left Kakashi?"

Sasuke shook his head this time. "Fine. But if this gets too rough, you leave!"

Kimiko said, "Roger!" before Nao could contradict him any more.

The silver-haired boy turned to look around. When he turned back, he said, "It'd just Orochimaru and us now. It looks like the Konoha Ninja are much more impressive than I thought. Even Kabuto-kun is dead."

The shock was clear on Orochimaru's face. Kabuto was his right-hand man, but it was true he'd gotten older.

"And… Karin?" Sasuke asked, half reluctantly.

"I didn't see her, so I don't know."

Orochimaru seemed to shake himself from the trance that Kabuto's death had put him in. He didn't have any back up, not that it should've bothered him. Although, for some reason, it looked like it WAS bothering him. Now that Kimiko looked at him, with the amount of medical training she'd recently had, he looked weak, and sick. She knew that he switched bodies ever three years. Was his this his third year? That was her best guess. Anything else, for a Sannin like him, just seemed unreasonable. The body was beginning to wear out.

"He can't fight…!" Kimiko said.

Sasuke, Nao, and Yuki looked at her. "What?!"

"That body's not strong enough to sustain him much longer. That's why he's so eager to get his hands on Nao." Kimiko explained. "A slip up, eh…? Orochimaru…?"

Orochimaru smirked. "I knew you were a smart one, Kimiko-chan. To figure all that out just by looking at me…? I'm impressed."

"Kill him."

The three turned to Yuki. He had a very dark look on his face.

"I agree." Naruto, and everyone else's consent came. "Why wouldn't we kill him?"

"No reason." Sasuke seethed.

Orochimaru stood his ground, as always. "I'll kill you all." He said. "I will live, and Uchiha Nao will be mine."

He coughed up the snake that held his sword, and took it from him. Then he stood with the sword pointed at the people before him.

And they charged.

Kimiko couldn't see anyone even with her advanced sharingan. All that was there was blurs of people and blood. Other than that, she couldn't tell a kunai from a shurikan.

The last thing she felt was a blade slash across her stomach.

The last thing she heard were people crying her name.

The last thing she tasted was blood.

Then it was all dark.

And everything was gone.

**A/N:**

**CLIFFY! Well, mostly. Sorry if this SUCKED. And I'm sorry I've been gone so long! Really, I am!**

**B.T.W, by the next chapter, the battle will be over, but you get details..**

**REVIEW!! Haha. Really, please do. I haven't gotten one in a rather long while! T.T hehe. Thanks for reading!!**


	12. A Chuunin's First Mission

Kimiko awoke in a daze

Kimiko awoke in a daze. Her vision was blurry and her stomach had an excruciating pain eating through it. When her vision was back to normal, she saw five people sitting, and pacing, in her room.

"Kimiko!" her mother called out as she rushed to her daughter's side. Sakura hugged her quite carefully, in fear that her wound might rip open.

The next person she saw was her father, then Nao, then Shin, and to her surprise, Yuki. They all rushed to her, speaking all at once, except for Yuki. He kept to himself quietly in a corner.

She lifted her finger weakly and pointed at Yuki. "You." She said. "I want to talk to you."

Nao didn't look surprised in the slightest. Neither did Sakura or her father. Shin, on the other hand, looked quite hurt. She didn't want to hurt his feelings, but at the moment, Yuki was the most important matter at hand. The boy with the golden eyes looked up at her without the slightest hint of shock. He nodded curtly, and Sakura led the others out of the room, leaving the two teenagers alone in that small, dark room.

"What is it Uchiha-sama?" Yuki said, his head down.

Kimiko narrowed her eyes. "It's Kimiko, Yuki-kun. It was Kimiko in the battle, and it still is."

He looked up at her. She knew something had happened to her, and someone had slashed her.

_So… why do his eyes… have so much… guilt?_

"I want to know what happened to me." She said simply.

Yuki immediately averted his eyes. They were transfixed on Kimiko's IV, which had suddenly become very interesting, She wondered why he wanted to avoid the subject. Did he do something to her?

Tears finally fell from the boy's eyes. "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry. I couldn't… I couldn't…!"

Kimiko cupped her hand around his jaw and forced him to look at her. "You couldn't…?"

He sat on the bed and looked at her, his golden eyes glistening. "I couldn't stop him. Orochimaru just… he came at you so fast… and I didn't know—"

"I don't blame you, Yuki-kun. I don't. It's not your fault." She smiled weakly at him. "We're friends aren't we?"

"F…Friends?" Yuki's eyes shot open, showing a tainted past, and a tormenting fear. "No… no I'll… hurt you! Just like... like…"

Kimiko's eyebrows furrowed with curiosity. "Who are you, Yuki-kun? Where are you from?"

Yuki looked around like something was following him. He was now covered in a sweat of fear. He grabbed his head and shook, falling to his knees.

"Yuki-kun!"

Kimiko, despite the pain ripping at her stomach, bent down and grabbed his shoulders. He was whispering something in a low, low voice. Tears leaked from the girl's eyes as she listened to his tortured words. "…never forgive me. They'll never forgive me. I'm a weapon… nothing but a weapon." She listened and listened to the words over and over again until they were etched in her brain. Kimiko sat there, her hands slipping from his shoulders. She didn't know what to say. She didn't know what she _could_ say to him.

"Yuki-kun… get up. Please, get up." Kimiko said, and grabbed his upper arm, pulling him back onto the bed.

He didn't look at her again, and she didn't want to. She was too afraid of what might be in his eyes next.

"Look… this… whatever it is… you don't have to tell m-"

"No. No, you deserve to know." Yuki said firmly. "You need to know."

Kimiko nodded as Yuki began his story.

"My name is Katsura Yuki. I'm from the clan in the Hidden Village of the Stars. When I was very young, some men came to my home, and took my older brothers, leaving me. They said that they weren't worthy of the clan name… they were twins, you see, but unfortunately, they didn't possess our clan's ability. We're alchemists. And when my ruthless clan found this out, they took my brothers away and I never saw them again. After that, I was placed in the academy and deemed a "genius". I liked the academy. I made friends and a couple best friends. I dreamed of battling alongside them. And then… those exams came. I was very excited that I was going to be a full-fledged ninja. But when I arrived at the exam center, the moods had changed." Yuki sighed, obviously struggling with the next part, though Kimiko couldn't guess it. "They said, 'this is a killing match. Last one standing gets the headband.' No one would believe it. But they wouldn't let us out. We had to fight. And when it was all over…"

Kimiko grasped the boy's hand. "…you were the last one standing."

Yuki nodded. "I was blamed for all the children's deaths. Everyone hated me, and eventually, my own parents did, too. I was nothing to anybody. I was a "weapon", without feelings. I killed who I needed to, and went on. My life was nothing but blood and hatred. A few months later, Orochimaru came and took me away. I was only nine then."

They sat in silence for a while Yuki sobbed. Kimiko looked at him, thinking about the one and only sentence that boy wanted to hear.

"I forgive you." She said.

Yuki's head shot up. "What?"

"I forgive you." She repeated.

His sobs grew louder as he fell into the girl's arms. She hugged him with a smile.

When the others heard the sobs, they rushed back in, thinking it was Kimiko. The four of them saw him crying in her arms. She knew they were there, but she didn't look up. All she could do was close her eyes and cry.

At the point when Kimiko did look at the others, Sakura and Sasuke had gone, leaving them to privacy. Nao was smiling peacefully at her, and he came back in the room, putting a hand on Yuki's back.

"Me and Kimi…" he said, "we're here for you, Yuki."

But anger bubbled up inside Shin. Jealously enveloped him. But regardless, he went next to them and said, "Yeah. Me too."

**LATER, IN THE HOKAGE'S OFFICE…**

"We need to interrogate Yuki." Naruto said.

Kimiko and Nao looked at each other, then back at him. "What?" Kimiko asked. "Why?"

"He was with Orochimaru." Naruto told them.

Nao shook his head. "Orochimaru is _dead_, Naruto-Nii! Any plan that might've been there is totally worthless now!"

"What?!" Kimiko turned to her brother. "He's _dead_?!"

Naruto nodded. "Your father killed him." He said, sounding rather proud of his best friend.

"Check your neck, Kimiko!" Nao said happily.

When she did, she no longer felt the familiar sting of hatred. There was nothing. Her curse mark was actually gone. Kimiko was too happy for words.

But that happiness faded when Naruto said, "Back to Yuki. It's true, Orochimaru is gone, but he could just go through with whatever the plan was and reap the benefits."

"Orochimaru only wanted to destroy Konoha." Kimiko reminded the man. "What benefits for Yuki would there be?"

Naruto seemed to ponder this for a moment. "You have a point there."

They sat in a thorny silence for a long time. Naruto was thinking about something, Nao was looking at Kimiko, and Kimiko was looking at Nao.

"Do _you_ trust him, Kimiko?" Naruto asked finally.

She looked up seriously. "With my life, Naruto-Nii."

Naruto smiled at her and nodded. "Okay. Then Yuki should live with you two and your mother. That would be the most reasonable choice… he seems most comfortable around you, Kimiko. Not to mention you'll be able to keep a close watch on him for the next few weeks."

Nao shook his head. "We don't have the room in our house. With Mom, Kimi, and me, we're cramped enough as it is."

"Then…" the vulpine man tapped his chin, "I think you should move into the Uchiha compound with Sasuke-teme. He's all by himself, now."

Kimiko looked confused. "I kind of guessed Karin was dead… but what about Katashi-chan?"

"He," Nao clenched his fists, "left the village. He said, 'This place is useless. My mother is dead and my father betrayed her.' That bastard…"

Kimiko shook her head. No matter what her brother said, Katashi was their half-brother, and she knew he was upset. Before she'd even known this, he had been her friend. Kimiko could put on all the brave faces she wanted, but this was really a blow to her emotionally.

"So about moving in with your father…" Naruto continued, "What do you two think?"

Nao shook his head fiercely. "No way."

"Oh, swallow your damn pride for once, Nao." Kimiko said. "You know that Dad would let us, and this is for Yuki. Didn't you say that we'd be there for him?" The raven-haired boy nodded in defeat.

"I guess I need to keep my promise." Nao said. "We'll go talk to Dad, Naruto-Nii."

Naruto put up a hand. "Already done, my friends! You're wondrous Hokage has taken care of it for you!"

"What's with the stupid attitude all the sudden?" the two muttered.

**THE NEXT DAY, IN THE UCHIHA COMPOUND**

Kimiko stood in her new room with her bags. She smiled and set her things down. If it hadn't been for Yuki, she never would've agreed to live with her father. She still couldn't believe that he would betray his own village and his best friend. If it had been her in his place, and Izumi in Naruto's, she definitely would've made different decisions. Kimiko did know a little thing about revenge.

She headed off to Yuki's room first. He answered the minute she knocked and led her inside.

"Do you think that you could like it here, Yuki-kun?" She asked him with a smile.

He nodded at her. "I have to thank you, Kimiko-chan. No one has ever showed me kindness like you and your family."

They looked at each other seriously for a second, but Yuki turned away, a blush very visible on his face. Kimiko smiled at him again and said, "Do you mind if I go and check on my brother?"

Yuki looked at her and smiled. "It's fine. I'll see you later."

"Thanks." She said and left the room.

When Kimiko walked into Nao's room, he wasn't in there. She checked the drawers and his closet. All his clothes and weapons were there.

She decided to check around the compound. It was really big, so she checked with her sharingan a little, too. The pink-haired girl still couldn't find her brother. She went out into the town. After searching a while, she saw him barreling towards her.

"Nao!" she called.

"Kimi! Naruto-Nii wants to see us. It's about the Chuunin exams." Nao said excitedly.

Kimiko's eyes shot open. "Then what are we waiting for?" she said and darted off to Naruto. This could only be good news.

**IN THE HOKAGE'S OFFICE**

Upon her arrival, Kimiko saw that she and her brother weren't the only people with him. In the room were she, Nao, Shin, and Izumi. Shin and Izumi certainly deserved the title of Chuunin, if that was indeed why they were there.

"The four of you are the best choices to become Chuunin." Naruto said.

Kimiko looked confused. "But Naruto-Nii, I didn't even got to go through with my battle. How was I judged?"

"I watched you in that fight and the way you handled the situation with Yuki." He told her. "It was impressive. You showed the traits of a leader."

The four friends stood smiling as they received their vests.

Shin got his first. _Ah… I've achieved my goal._

Izumi was next. _I'm so happy!_

Kimiko received hers third. _Wow… Chuunin!_

Nao got his last. _Chuunin… the next step towards my dream: being Hokage! _

"I'm very proud of all four of you." Naruto said, his eyes glistening especially bright when he looked at Izumi.

Just as they were going to leave, someone burst through the door. Kimiko couldn't tell who it was at first, but the red marks on his cheeks gave him away. It was Kiba.

He huffed for a second, and then said, "Naruto! There's an issue in the sand; it's an emergency! Gaara-sama says he suspects the Akatsuki!"

Naruto seemed lost in thought for a second. He looked nostalgic in a way. Then he straightened up and said, "Send these three." He said, pointing at Nao, Izumi, and Shin.

"What?!" Kimiko exclaimed. "What about me?"

Naruto looked at her very seriously, but worry was apparent on his face. "Your stomach hasn't even healed. I'm not sending you out into that kind of battle with a wound like yours! It's _suicide._"

"Would that have stopped you Naruto-Nii?" Kimiko asked matter-of-factly.

"Uh…" the Hokage was taken aback a bit by the intelligence of her question. "Well… probably not."

"So why let it stop me? _I can fight._"

Nao, Izumi, and Shin looked at Kimiko with admiration. She was truly brave to be going out on a dangerous mission with an injury like hers.

"No way!" Kiba said. "You can't send her out there!"

Kimiko looked at the man who had helped raise her. She smiled at him and grabbed his arm, pulling him down. He looked at her and she whispered. "I'm not a kid anymore, Kiba-Nii. I can do this."

He stood his normal height again and looked at her proudly. "Okay." He said, and left the room.

Naruto cleared his throat and pulled the attention back to him. The four looked back at him and he said, "This is your first mission as Chuunin. The Sand needs you. Now, head out!"

"Hai!"

**A/N:**

**Hope you guys liked this! It was pretty fast-paced this time… Is that bad…?**

**Okay, so next chapter takes place on the way to/in the Sand. I'm not sure what will happen yet, but I am excited!**

**REVIEW! I got only good reviews for the last chapter, so thanks!! AND I HIT 50! Hehe. Let's try to break 60, 'kay? Haha.**

**-HUGS!-**

**UchihaKyoko**


	13. He's Back

I've done Kimi's point of view for a really long time… maybe I'll switch to Nao in the middle of this chapter… who knows…

**I've done Kimi's point of view for a really long time… maybe I'll switch to Nao in the middle of this chapter… who knows…?**

Kimiko rushed into Yuki's room. He'd been asleep, but when she walked in, he immediately woke, a kunai and three shuriken present in his fingers.

She stood, bewildered. "What're those for?" she asked him.

Yuki put the weapons away and shrugged. "Old habits I suppose…"

The pink-haired girl shrugged and walked over to him. She sat on the bed and looked at him. This probably wasn't going to be very smooth.

"I... have to leave." She said.

Yuki's eyes shot open. "What? Why?"

Kimiko rubbed her hands together. "Look… I don't have much time… all I can tell you is that I have to go on a mission to the sand. You were with Orochimaru… so I'm sure you know of the Akatsuki." She paused and he nodded. "Something's up. I have to go… but I'll be back, okay?"

He nodded and she got up to leave. "Wait!" he said, and she turned to face him. "Come back… come back safely, okay?"

She smiled gently at him. "I will. You can count on it, Yuki-kun. I will see you soon."

"You'd better." He said as she left.

**AT THE GATES…**

Nao stood with Shin and Izumi, waiting for his sister. He could guess too easily where she was, and his two friends could, too: with Yuki. He'd come in and said a brief, but brotherly good-bye. But he knew that Kimiko would want to take her time and really talk to the silver-haired boy.

"Where is she?" Shin pondered aloud, his anger and jealousy just a little too apparent.

Izumi sighed. "Relax, Shin. We all know where she is."

The blond boy looked at her. She had a very teasing twinkle in her eyes. Nao caught it and laughed. Shin just blushed and muttered, "How troublesome," under his breath.

"Hey guys!" Kimiko rushed to them. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry. Let's go!"

Normally, Nao would've chastised her on her tardiness, but he suddenly remembered that this mission could possibly be an emergency, so they all ran down the path without a word.

Hours later, they were jumping through the trees in the forest.

"Okay," Nao called, "it's a three day travel to the sand, but we don't know the gravity of the sand's situation, so I say we go through without stopping the first night."

Izumi and Kimiko readily agreed, but Shin shook his head. "No way!" he said. "What if we're ambushed? We'll have no energy."

"They're called 'soldier pills', Shin," Izumi said.

"But—"

Kimiko turned her head so that she could see him. "Shin, you're the most impressively rational, smartest, and strategic person I know. You know Nao's right. So… so stop making up stupid excuses for me!" Nao and Izumi looked at each other. "I can handle it. I might've been hurt in that stupid battle, but I'm not _crippled!_" she yelled.

_I know you want to sound brave, Kimiko, but wasn't that kind of harsh? _

Shin's eyes were filed with shock and hurt when he bowed his head and said, "I… I'm sorry."

Kimiko just turned with a determined look on her face.

The raven-haired boy looked back at Izumi. Her eyes held a knowing look, but she just shrugged, as if to put on a show for Kimiko and Shin. Nao noted he hadn't been able to talk to Izumi much at all, and decided, since he'd been put in charge of the mission, to put her and himself on the same guard duty. Maybe then they could get some alone time, and Shin could talk to Kimiko about his _issue_ with Yuki.

The first two days went easy for the teenagers. Things were unusually still and quiet, but not because of lack of sleep. That hadn't been an issue, thanks to the soldier pills. It was more of the tense air between Kimiko and Shin. Izumi and Nao hadn't had a problem at first, but eventually, it made them too uncomfortable to talk.

The last day of travel was the night that they would sleep. Nao was pretty happy about it, considering the way he paired up the guard duties.

"Alright, first half of the night, Izumi and I will guard." Nao announced after the sunset. "Then we'll wake you two up and you can guard."

Shin nodded and immediately went to sleep. Kimiko, on the other hand, pulled Nao to the side.

"I know what your pulling, Nao." She said with a sly smile. "And it is _so_ not funny."

Nao smiled. "Who said it has to be?" he said, and walked away again to join Izumi. Kimiko went to sleep after that, leaving Izumi and Nao to themselves. They sat together by a tree just outside the camp, Nao with his sharingan, Izumi with her Byakugan.

It was a while before Nao talked to her.

"What do you think it is?" she asked him.

Nao shrugged. "I don't know. But if Gaara-Nii really needs us, it must be important. He's not exactly a person who calls out for help for everything."

"Yeah." Izumi nodded. "I'm just really grateful to have Kimiko here right now. We needed someone with medical training. She's really good to. My Dad says she'll be able to work as an official medicnin in a couple years."

They sat in silence for a while after that. Nao wished they had something to talk about, but he just sat in the dark, listening to the crackling fire. Something suddenly tensed in Izumi, and he could feel it.

"What is it?" he asked her.

She looked around with her Byakugan. "There's someone here."

The raven-haired boy immediately jumped up with a kunai and his sharingan. "Who's there?" he called. The bushes rustled, but no one emerged. "I said, who's there?!" he yelled and through the kunai into the direction where the chakra was coming from.

To their surprise, a bloody mass stumbled out of the trees. Izumi's eyes shot wide open, and Nao stood there trying to figure out who the person was. They seemed vaguely familiar.

The blood covered body walked shakily, his blood-covered head still down. "Nao…" it said. "Nao…!"

Nao's eyes then went wide as he pieced together who the man was. "Izumi! Go get Kimiko, now!" he said.

"But, Nao-kun, he-" Izumi began.

"_Now!_"

Izumi didn't hesitate to get Kimiko after the boy raised his voice at her.

The man coughed up blood. "Nao…" he said.

Nao rushed to help the man. He put a hand on his back and laid him on the ground, their eyes meeting. "It's going to be okay." Nao told him as he began to examine him lightly. "Everything is going to be just fine. I promise. Kimiko's coming… so everything will be okay… Gaara-Nii."

Gaara closed his eyes; finally losing consciousness just as Kimiko skidded into the area with Shin and Izumi close behind, confused looks on their faces.

"Where is he?" she asked.

"Here." Nao pointed down. "He's bleeding heavily from his legs and abdomen. There's also a deep scratch on the back of his neck. It looks like a wound from shuriken."

"How can you tell all that?" Kimiko asked him, while activating her mystic palm.

Nao nodded at her. "I read some of your books." He said. "Look here…" he pointed down Gaara's torso. "It's jagged."

"I'll get the neck first." Kimiko said. "We don't want Gaara-Nii losing any spinal fluid."

"Wait…" Izumi said. "If that's all his wounds, what about the blood all over the rest of his body?" she asked, and Shin was beginning to look curious, too.

Kimiko leaned over Gaara's neck and began healing him. "That's not his blood." She said simply.

Shin and Izumi were quiet after that.

"Hand me a bandage, Nao. I stopped the bleeding in his neck and stomach, but his legs are deeper than I expected." Nao nodded and handed his sister the bandages. She leaned over his legs, healing them the most that she could, and then carefully wrapped each one.

When she was finished, Nao said, "I think you should check his head. He staggered in here like he was dizzy. There could be a bruise or something…" he aid, lifting Gaara's hair out of his eyes and forehead. Sure enough, there was a large bruise spread across his forehead. Kimiko leaned over his head and healed him, and finally deactivating her mystic palm.

"What happened to him?" Kimiko sighed.

Shin shrugged. "Who knows?"

She nodded. "Well, we'll wait for him to wake up and leave immediately, right?" she looked at the team leader, Nao, and he nodded.

An hour or so passed. Izumi and Nao had gone to sleep, coaxed by Kimiko of course, so Shin and Kimiko were alone by Gaara.

"What's he doing all the way out here?" Kimiko asked quietly.

Shin shrugged. "There's no way to tell until he wakes up."

The two stood in silence after that. Shin's head was bowed but Kimiko definitely still felt the raw jealousy still radiating off of him in waves. She hated that he was so like this over Yuki. Kimiko really loved Yuki that much was true, but loving him like she did and loving him like Shin thought were two totally different things.

"This is stupid, Shin." Kimiko said. "Why are you so angry with Yuki?"

Shin was caught off guard by the straightforward question. He sat, dumbfounded for a couple of minutes, just staring at her. She shook her head, as if telling him to hurry and answer. "I…" he said. "I just…"

"You just what?" she prompted. "It's just me, Shin. Talk."

"No." the blond boy said. "It's not 'just you'. You're… different, Kimiko. God… why do I get so irritated when you're with him and not _me_? Why do I feel so… I'm a _ninja_, Kimiko. Emotions were never my strong point."

Kimiko smiled at him. "We're teenagers, Shin. Emotions aren't supposed to be our strong point. Yuki… he's… different, too. But I feel different around you two. With him, it's like I've been around him my whole life… like he was my _brother_, or something." Shin seemed to perk up a bit. "And with you… I… I can't describe it. It's weird… but I like it."

The Nara boy nodded. "I know. It that what you call…"

"What? Is that what you call… what?" Kimiko asked, although she already knew the answer.

Shin blushed. "Is that what you call… love? Kimiko… do I… do I love you?"

Kimiko's heart pounded hard enough to burst through her chest. _Did he _love her? Did _she_ love him? No. She _couldn't_ love him. If she did and someone found out… someone who wanted to hurt her… they would hurt him.

But she couldn't help herself. She _did_ love him. She loved him more than anything in the whole world and if it really came to it, she would die for him.

"You tell me, Shin. Do you love me?"

Shin walked closer to Kimiko. He grabbed her hand and pulled her closer and closer to his mouth. Kimiko felt each individual pump of her heart grow harder and harder. Each second went in slow motion, as they got closer to each other. It wasn't long before she could feel his hot, shallow breaths on her face. Their noses touched and Shin stopped dead.

"What do you think…? Kimiko…?"

Kimiko could no longer contain herself. She kissed him, full on the mouth, without any more hesitation. It seemed to last forever. They finally pulled apart, breathing heavily and Kimiko smiled.

"I love you, Shin. I love you so much!" she told him.

He smiled wide. "I love you, too."

They sat on the ground for a little bit, just holding hands and smiling peacefully. But as everyone knows, all peace will come to an end. They heard Gaara stirring on the ground.

"He's waking up!" Kimiko said.

Shin nodded. "I'll go get Izumi and Nao."

Gaara's head shot up, his pupils dilating and his face covered in sweat. "Where…?"

"Gaara-Nii! It's me, Kimiko. It's all right. You're safe here with me." She told him in a consoling voice. "Now… can you tell me what happened?"

"U… U…" he stammered.

Kimiko was getting scared. Her "Gaara-Nii" was always calm, cool, and collected. He never got injured and was never flustered. His eyes never ever showed fear like they were. What had really happened?

"Who was it, Gaara-Nii?"

Gaara pointed behind Kimiko's back. She turned to see a shadowy figure in a black cloak with red clouds. He looked a bit familiar, but his aura was more murderous than Orochimaru's. His presence stank of blood spilling.

"Who…?" Kimiko said again, her voice shaking with fear and she looked back at Gaara.

"Uchiha…Itachi!"

**A/N:**

**Okay. This was a bit difficult to write. I'm not that great with romance, so I hope it wasn't bad! And yes, I brought Itachi into the story again. I know, I said he was dead, so people who are confused, I did it on purpose. You'll get full details next chapter!**

**REVIEW! This was one of the more important chapters, so I would appreciate feedback, guys. So… REVIEW!**

**-Hugs!-**

**UchihaKyoko**


	14. The Gift That Is Uchiha Itachi

"Uchiha… Itachi

"_Uchiha… Itachi!"_

Kimiko stood and stared at the man in the black coat. "You… you're Dad's…!"

"Oh ho, ho. It looks like my foolish little brother had a child." The man said as Nao, Izumi, and Shin skidded into the clearing. "Hm? Ah! Twins. Interesting. So, what are your names, eh?"

The pink-haired girl glared at him. "Kimiko. That's Nao."

"Kimiko?" Nao stepped forward to his sister. "Who's that?"

She looked back at her brother. "That, Nao, is Uchiha Itachi… our 'dead' uncle."

Nao stopped dead. He and Kimiko stood in front of Gaara's body, protecting him. Shin and Izumi stood behind him, faces filled with shock and confusion. All four of them had heard many stories about Itachi, including how he killed off his entire clan, except for one Uchiha Sasuke.

"I thought Dad… did Dad kill him or not?"

Kimiko growled. "There's the question of the hour."

Izumi activated her Byakugan. She looked straight at Itachi and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. Then, she gasped and jumped a bit. "Nao, Kimiko!" she yelled to them. "Activate your sharingan, now! Shin cover your eyes, and _don't _open them. You too, Gaara-Nii!"

All did as they were told, though Kimiko and Nao were the only two that understood. Kimiko could easily recall the day where Sasuke told them all about his brother. She could recall the way his face twisted as he spoke of him even easier.

_Nao and Kimiko sat in the training grounds where Sasuke had told them to meet._

"_What do you think is so important that we had to come out here at 10:00 p.m.?" Nao asked his sister, but she just shrugged. _

"_As if I'd know." She said._

_Sasuke came walking up the path. His hands were shoved deeper in his pockets than usual hand his head hung low. The twins looked at each other with confused expressions. While the Konoha 12 had seen him this depressed for years, Kimiko and Nao weren't very used to it._

"_Hey." He said. "I need to talk to you guys."_

_They looked up at their father. "What is it?" they said in unison._

"_It's about… Itachi." Sasuke's face twisted to agony and hate. Kimiko shivered. She'd never seen him like this. "I never told you about him. I always meant to… but I've put it off too long. He is your uncle. You two deserve to know all about who he was." _

_Nao nodded. "Okay, Dad. We're listening."_

_Sasuke sighed. "When I was eight… I looked up to him. He was my older brother… better than anyone. Itachi always smiled at me. He was always there when my father wasn't… which was quite often. But… something… something broke. His smiles faded and his best friend died mysteriously. That when things got bad. I stayed out late one day training, and when I got back… my whole clan… my family… was dead. When I saw Itachi, he tried to hurt me at first, but then, he told me to live as his avenger. He activated something called, 'mangekyou sharingan'. He tortured me with it… making me watch my family die… again…and again… and again. When I woke up the next morning, he was gone, and I was alone."_

_Kimiko's tears burned her face._

"_If you ever come into contact with it… activate your sharingan right away. It'll stop the worst effects." Sasuke said._

_Kimiko and Nao nodded. "You got it Dad."_

The twins glared at the man in front of them, their red orbs glistening with hatred. Shin's eyes stayed closed, but he radiated with the will to fight. Izumi's Byakugan was pushed to full throttle, and Gaara sat up, his sand beginning to swirl.

"Why the hell aren't you dead?" Nao seethed.

"Genjustu," Itachi said mockingly, "is a very handy tool."

Kimiko was a bit confused. Was the man this good that he could fake his own death by use of a simple genjutsu? Or was that the power of mangekyou sharingan? As she asked herself these questions, she suddenly felt as though a knife was being driven into her skull.

The pain then abruptly stopped. She looked around and saw that Itachi was gone, but she felt wet. Kimiko brought her hands to her face. They were stained with crimson blood. She looked around frantically, finding that there was no one else in the clearing except for a single mangled body lying in the middle. She shakily walked up to it. The color of the person's hair was completely unidentifiable because of the blood that stained it. The pink-haired girl bent down and hesitantly turned the mutilated body over.

She gasped.

Then she cried and screamed.

"Shin!" she screamed. "Shin! No!" she covered her face. "Why…? Why did this happen…?"

"…Your fault Kimiko. It's your fault."

She heard the taunting voice echoing all around her. As she turned to find it, the source kept spinning out of reach, eventually making her turn her eyes back to the bloody body of the boy that she loved so dearly.

"You couldn't save him. You couldn't _protect _him… and that's why he died. You're worthless. Worthless… useless…"

Kimiko!

A voice that came from far, far away called her name. The voice was familiar.

Izumi, get Nao! We've got to get these guys back to the Sand! Gaara… help Shin! And you come with me. We're going to save these kids!

…_Dad…?_

_Sasuke, what's happened to them?_

_Mom…?_

_  
_It's a genjutsu. Somebody with sharingan did this to them…

Kimiko could feel herself being whisked through the air by a pair of strong arms. She guessed that it had to be Sasuke.

_You killed Itachi. So who…?_

I don't know…

That pink-haired girl couldn't hear anymore after that. She blacked out, not even wanting to hear more. All she knew is that she could feel her own blood spread across her body… and that her eyes were burning fiery hot.

**THE NEXT MORNING**

Kimiko awoke in the Suna Hospital. She opened her eyes carefully, only to get one of the biggest shocks of her life.

Kimiko couldn't see.

"Hey! Hey!" she called. "Someone help me!"

She felt someone tightly grasp her hand. The pink-haired girl turned and sensed all chakra around her. She felt the presence of her brother in the next bed over. She could feel her mother and father talking to a doctor out in the hallway, but Izumi was nowhere to be found. The person who was grasping her hand though, was Shin.

"It's okay, Kimiko. We're in a hospital in the Sand." She said, trying to keep her calm.

She blinked frantically. "Why can't I see?" she asked. "What happened?"

Nao spoke for the first time that Kimiko had heard. "Yeah… tell us, Shin. Why can't we see?"

Shin sighed. "I saw Kimiko grasp her head. When I went to her, Nao grabbed his head, too. You two were freaking out like crazy, screaming your heads off. Gaara, me, and Izumi totally forgot about Itachi. We were all trying to figure out how to get it to stop… when he struck. Itachi jumped you so fast, we couldn't do anything. He gathered you together and put this huge transparent shield around you. Izumi said it was made of chakra… so we couldn't get in. The three of us could clearly see what he was doing, though. He put his one of his hands over each of your faces and muttered something I couldn't hear. Next thing I knew, he was bringing his hands up, and this red stuff jetted into your eyes. When it stopped, there was this huge flash of light. By the time we could all see again, he was gone, you two were covered in blood, and Sasuke-Sensei and Sakura-san were jumping into the clearing."

Kimiko shook her head, not even believing what she'd just heard. She couldn't begin to imagine what Itachi had done to her. Her telepathy, which had never actually been really strong, with Nao was sharpening, though. She could feel his worry over the whereabouts of Izumi.

"Where's Izumi, Shin?" she asked. The pink-haired girl felt Nao's curiosity grow.

"Huh?" Shin was caught a bit off guard. "Oh… she's with Gaara-Nii."

Nao sighed with relief as Sasuke and Sakura walked into the room.

"Guys?" Sakura sounded thoroughly concerned. "Are… are you alright?"

Even if it was only to keep her mother calm, Kimiko nodded with a fake enthusiasm and said, "Yeah, Mom. We're fine! Nothing to worry about here."

"Liar…" Sasuke said. "You can't see, and you had a huge hole in your right shoulders!"

Kimiko rolled her eyes. "Well, yeah, but thanks for making Mom worry, Dad."

Sasuke shrugged.

_He's too… calm. There's no way that he knows who attacked us, or he'd be totally on edge right now! Has no one told him…? You'd think that he'd be the first to know that his brother nearly killed his kids…_

"Hey… Dad?" she said.

"Hn?" he responded with a curt nod. (Not that Kimiko or Nao would know.)

She hesitated for a moment before saying what she knew she had to. "You… you do know… who it was that attacked us, right…?"

Nao and Shin kept quiet. They knew that Sasuke had to hear this.

"No. We've been trying to find out… but Izumi and Gaara have been locked up in that office. We figured we'd ask you. That's why we're in here." Sasuke replied.

Sakura spoke up. "So who was it? What village were they from?"

"Umm… I think he's from Konoha…" Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other. "… and he was in the Akatsuki."

"Did he tell you his name?" Sakura asked. "Or you could just tell us what he looked like if you don't know."

"No… we know who he was." Kimiko said. "Dad… I'm… We're sorry. We know you thought that you killed him… but he's alive."

Sasuke's eyes shot open and he went straight to Kimiko's bed. "Who? Who are you talking about Kimiko?!"

Tears welled up in Kimiko and Sakura's eyes. "Uchiha…Itachi,"

"Dad… we didn't… he just…!" Nao tried to say.

Sasuke got up and put both hands on the wall in front of Kimiko's bed. "That's impossible. Itachi is _dead._ I saw him die with my own eyes! I killed him with my own two hands. _He is dead._"

Shin shook his head. "No… sensei. He's not."

Sasuke began walking toward the doors.

"Sasuke…" Sakura said. "Please don't do anything stupid."

"What?!"

Sakura shook her head. "Last time he appeared before us by chance, you left to Orochimaru to try to get stronger. _Don't do anything like that again._ I though Naruto told you… you're strong. By not doing that, you'll get stronger."

Kimiko had never seen her mother talk like this to anyone before. She knew that Sakura and Naruto had spent many years trying to get Sasuke back, but she'd never guessed it would be like this.

"Don't be daft, Sakura." Sasuke said fiercely. "You don't know what it's like! My entire family was just _gone_ because of him! You… someone with a _perfect life_ would never understand. How would someone like you know what true pain… what true _power_ is!"

"True power…" Nao said darkly, "…is hate. You, Dad, me, and Kimiko have all felt that curse mark. Do you want to be like that?! _Do you?!_"

Kimiko felt the power surging in Nao and the shock in her father.

"I don't know about Mom…" Kimiko said, "… but me and Nao know what it's like not to feel complete. You at least had a father for a while. Ours…" she glared at him with resentment, "…denied us for most of our lives. Don't think that one silly little talk when we were 10 made up for all those years you weren't there! And don't think that we don't know what happened, now. Me and Nao _know _what you did to our mother. Nobody's got a perfect life, Sasuke!" Sasuke's eyes widened when she used his name. "But we all make the most of ours. Me and Nao care about each other and about other people. And those people care about us. But when we were young… I used to hear Mom and Nao crying at night. I could hear it… and it wrenched at my heart. You caused me, Nao, and Mom more pain than we'd ever felt before. But we don't take revenge. So wise up… you selfish bastard."

Sakura's face was pale. She couldn't believe that her daughter had spoken to Sasuke like that. Nao and Shin were completely blank, but their faces held smirks.

"Kimiko… I…" Sasuke tried to speak to her. "I…"

"Shut the hell up." Kimiko and Nao said in unison as they climbed out of their hospital beds, leaving the room together.

Shin stood to follow them. When he left, he noticed that Sakura had followed him, leaving Sasuke to his own thoughts in that lonely hospital room.

Kimiko and Nao sat together on top of the Kazekage's tower. They didn't talk for a while, but eventually, Nao had a rather good question. "Can you see at all?" he asked her with a worried tone.

"It's coming back." She said. "It's all kind of fuzzy right now… wait… I'm getting something…" she blinked a few times and looked at Nao, who was doing the same. But when she saw his eyes, she gasped. "Wh-what is that?" she asked.

He saw hers too, and his eyes shot wide open. "Is that really what he did to us? He's insane!"

"He's stupid!" Kimiko exclaimed.

They looked at each other again. "He's… the greatest person on earth."

For there in the twins eyes was something that hadn't been there before. It was unfamiliar, but Kimiko and Nao could recognize it in an instant.

"Mangekyou…sharingan!"

**A/N:**

**Yeah, I'm not really sure how that would work… but it's true! Kimiko and Nao have been given the mangekyou sharingan! But why would Itachi give it to them? Uh-oh!! New surprises coming up!**

**REVIEW! I actually need reviews on this one. Why? Because I do. Hehe. So, yeah. REVIEW!**


	15. The Runaways

I do not own

I do not own!

**(a/n: the Mangekyou appeared only after they regained their eyesight. That's why no one else knew, in case you are wondering.)**

"_Mangekyou…Sharingan!"_

The twins stared intently at each other. Kimiko shook her head, trying to clear all thoughts of her father and focus on the situation at hand. Nao, on the other hand, slumped to the ground with a heavy sigh. _What now…?_ Kimiko asked herself. _What are we supposed to do? Why have you done such a thing, Itachi?_

"What the hell is going on, Kimiko?" Nao shattered her thoughts. "What do you think he wants with us?"

She sighed. "You expect me to know?" when Nao shook his head, Kimiko asked him, "Whom should we talk to about this?"

Seconds passed as Nao pondered what his sister had just asked. Questions seemed to be the only thing he could handle at that moment. Answers were just too elusive. They could not talk to Sasuke about it, obviously. Sakura was also out of the question—Naruto, too. There was but one person that existed that could help them. _Only one…_ Nao thought. He, however, was just as elusive as the answers the twins longed for. That one man would show when he wanted to and only then. The question that followed was harder than any other they faced. "How…" Nao pondered aloud, "…will we find such a man?"

"What?" Kimiko snapped up from, what had obviously been, a very deep thought.

Nao's eyes narrowed. "Him. We have to find _him_… we have to find the very man that did this to us."

The pink-haired girl nodded with a smirk.

"Kimiko, we have to find Uchiha Itachi."

**A WEEK LATER…**

**(a/n: Yes, we are back in glorious Konoha.)**

"**Missing?!**" Izumi exclaimed. "How can they be missing?!"

Naruto sighed a very sad sigh. "I don't know, Izumi. Sakura went into their rooms this morning, and they were gone."

Just as Izumi was about to ask another frantic question, the door to the Hokage's office swung open. In the frame stood a panting Sasuke. "Naruto!" he exclaimed. "Why was I not informed of this?!"

"Because, you would've gone an done something idiotic." Naruto replied calmly, though he was obviously distressed, not to mention exhausted.

_I don't want to hear that from you…!_ Sasuke cursed the blonde man in his head. Shaking it off, he stormed up to the man's desk (nearly knocking Izumi over in the process) and slammed his fists down. "I want those kids found. Naruto, I'm asking as a friend, an ally, a teammate…let me go and look for them!!" the man screamed.

But Naruto would not budge on the subject. "No. It's too dangerous for you. No matter the circumstance, in any case, they would not accept help from you. Besides, we don't know which way to look in the first place. Those two are really good at covering their tracks…."

"Wait…" Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows. "You mean they weren't kidnapped?"

Naruto shook his head. "Of course not. Why would their rooms have been cleaned out otherwise? A considerate enemy? I don't think so. They've run away…where they are going and what they're after…that's our current situation."

"_They've run away…"_ the words echoed louder and louder in the Uchiha's head. Their meaning burrowed deeper and deeper into his conscious and, more importantly, into this memories. Flashes of his old feelings returned. Pain, uncertainty, angst, hatred, and loss all hit his body at the same time. The emotional impact caused him to sway back and forth until he grasped the edge of Naruto's desk.

"Go home, teme." Naruto's authoritative voice boomed. "I'm sorry. This will be hard for you to hear…. But we don't need you. Not… not now."

Silent tension hung thick in the air as Sasuke stared, wide eyed, at his best friend. Being told you're not needed, not wanted, was a pain surpassing all others. Sasuke narrowed his eyes and ran out of the room, knocking over two ANBU in the process. As they caught his eyes, they saw the sharingan twisting and twirling in the pool of fiery red anger.

"Hokage-sama…" one of them began, but Naruto shook his head.

"Leave him." He said calmly, but sadly. Even in such a circumstance, Naruto hated seeing Sasuke so depressed. It took him back to some of his coldest memories. He felt his stomach drop and his heart harden. There, in the presence of his daughter (who had been silent the whole scene) and his two soldiers, the strongest, most trusted, most loved man in the village wept tears of pity and sorrow.

Izumi rounded the desk. Putting a single hand on the man's shoulder as she cried, she muttered, "I'm sorry, Dad. I'm so, so sorry. But please…" her sobs grew in volume and length when she looked in her father's eyes, "…I'm begging you… please. Find my friends... please… find him. Find Nao…!"

She pushed into Naruto's chest. He held his daughter tightly, only saying his most trustworthy sentences; his most believable words.

"I will bring them back. It's a promise, Izumi. Believe it!"

_This time, Izumi, I'll make this promise worth it. I swear on all of Konoha. I will bring them home this time._

**WITH KIMIKO AND NAO**

"Where to next, Nao?" Kimiko breathed as she came skidding to a halt.

Nao stopped just behind her. "I'm getting a huge amount of chakra in the direction of the Hidden Village of the Rain. My guess is there's a base there."

The pink-haired girl sensed near the area her brother had described. She decided that he was right, her perception on people's chakra far above Nao's. "Let's go." She said. "We're far enough from Konoha, now. We'll rest tomorrow night, though, just to be safe."

He nodded, and the two leapt off into the trees.

_Uchiha Itachi… we're coming. We're coming… so be ready. I'm going to get the answers we need by any force necessary. _Kimiko blinked tears from her eyes. _I'm sorry, Mom. Naruto-Nii and Izumi, too. But most of all… I'm sorry to you, Shin. Don't give up. The two of us will come back. It could be tomorrow…next week…next month…even next year… but we will come back home… so please…_

_Wait for me…!!_

**A/N: Yeah, guys. Sorry I've been dead, for like…ever. But yeah, a lot of things have been happening, and I just got a LOAD of free time. So yay!! Time to write. :D And yeah, sorry it's short, too. That's my bad, it was just a platform for the next couple chapters. (And a way to tell you I wasn't dead. :)**

**REVIEW!! It would be nice to get those again. ******

**UchihaKyoko 3**


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